Happiness is a Warm Gun
by StixieMarie
Summary: Sequel to Strength of Body, Strength of Mind. If you haven't read that this probably won't make sense. MalOFC. Rated M for mature themes, violence, and sensuality. R & R Please! **On hiatus until inspiration returns!
1. Chapter 1

She lay awake, huddled under the soft covers, her small head peeking out like a nervous child. A twenty-five-year-old child who was still young enough to believe in the monsters under her bed, and yet old enough to know they weren't always what they seemed. Lately, she had found that these particular monsters seemed to crawl upward, tunneling through the thick mattress until they buried themselves in the pit of her stomach, disguising themselves as insecurities and apprehensions.

Josephine sighed and opened her eyes, focusing slowly on the dark ceiling of her new room at the Training House, her ears anxiously awaiting the knock on her door she'd been expecting for some time now. After Serenity's abrupt departure two months earlier, she had asked Inara quietly for new sleeping arrangements, unable to lay herself in the luxuriously oversized bed she had shared with him. The Companion had said nothing and made the arrangements promptly. Inara had been a gracious hostess, and, Jo was surprised to find, an even better friend and confidante. Inara seemed to know exactly what Josephine wanted without asking any questions and she now found herself in a smaller, plain room that was just down the hall from the room that Mira and the others still shared. The bed was built for one, and for the most part, her change in location helped to keep her thoughts on the task at hand. That is until night fell, and she lay in her single bed in her dark room, unable to sleep and unable to keep her thoughts from wandering to Malcolm Reynolds and Serenity... and the one worry she kept locked away in the back of her mind for the greater part of the day.

They had parted amicably enough, though hastily, she knew.

_It scares me how much I need you_, she had said.

_It scares me how much I love you_, he had responded quietly.

She had wanted to say so much after that. To return his sentiments, to explain to him that she was staying behind to be strong for him, to learn to be the person he deserved, not someone who needed constant looking after. But she couldn't form the words. So she held him instead, trying to force everything she wanted to say into that last embrace, secretly wishing they had taken the time to talk things through properly, to make arrangements, but secretly knowing it wasn't in either of their natures.

They had waved each other twice in the past two months, Jo instigating the first and Mal the second. Both conversations were short and Josephine was saddened to admit, somewhat strained. She inquired after the others, he asked about her progress with Mira and the rest of Rawley's wives, but again, no plans were made, no time limits set.

Jo informed him of how Inara had gracefully handled the fiasco at the ball, expertly manipulating the story and keeping all of their names out of it. She told him that the Companion had upped the security on the facility, ensured him that she was being careful and hadn't heard from or been visited by anymore of Nash's men. Nash... the man she had met twice and yet somehow completely trusted only to be utterly deceived.

She filed this thought away with the others that she had neither the time nor the energy to fret over just yet, and instead let her thoughts return to Mal. They had spoken to each other with carefully chosen words that made her chest ache, but it was as if she was running on auto-pilot and couldn't force herself to behave normally, not even to salvage the few months they had spent together.

Josephine closed her eyes again, willing the wetness that had begun at her eyes away, knowing that it wouldn't do any good to cry over it again. After all, wasn't this one of the main reasons she had stayed behind to begin with? To finally be her own person, to learn to look after herself and not rely entirely on others?

She snorted softly and rubbed a hand across her eyes, wiping away the tears that had managed to fall despite her best efforts.

"Some progress I've made," she whispered into the empty room. As soon as the words left her mouth she knew they weren't entirely true. She had been making progress, just not with herself.

She'd been working everyday with the women they had rescued from Bryce Rawley, and slowly but surely she had regained their trust. But what made her even happier was that through her they began to trust Inara and Ivani and the other women at the Training House. Josephine wasn't surprised to find however, that they became still and unresponsive in the presence of a man and made sure everything they needed was delivered by women.

She sighed again and rolled onto her side, burying her face into her pillow. Josephine had absolutely no illusions about any of them, including herself, ever living a "normal" life, but she had at least hoped, no matter how unrealistically, that they would be able to be around men by this point.

Oh and Mira... she groaned and buried her face deeper into the soft pillow. Mira, the youngest and most troubled, seemed destined to be the last to make any sort of progress. She had attached herself to Josephine and wouldn't go anywhere without her, the unfocused intangible mask always in its place.

And Josephine knew it was a mask, though what was underneath it seemed even more unreadable. Occasionally she would catch Rawley's youngest widow staring at her knowingly, an awed expression in her eyes. But Mira couldn't know, Jo attempted to assure herself, ignoring the nagging sensation that willed her to remember everything that had transpired between herself and the teenage girl.

The most recent had occurred just that afternoon. It was an unusually mild day at the Training House, and Jo and Ivani had opted to take the women outside for lunch. Inara had provided them with blankets and baskets of food which they spread out on the lawn in a sort of picnic. She watched in contentment as the women chatted cheerfully amongst themselves and her mind began to stray towards the thoughts she desperately tried to avoid during the light of day. Without warning she felt something warm pressed against her stomach and looked down to see Mira's hand low on her abdomen. Jo turned sharply to the side, her shocked eyes staring directly into Mira's discerning orbs. She shooed her hand away and Mira's expression drifted back into its usual indifference, and just like that it was over.

A soft rap issued from the other side of her door, startling Josephine from her musings. She turned the light on and got up quickly, surprised to find a weary looking Inara clad only in a dressing gown and not the doctor she had seen a few days before.

The Companion smiled tiredly as Josephine stepped aside to let her enter, shutting the door softly behind her. Inara turned around as she reached the bed to regard the other woman, now leaning against the closed door.

"I'm sorry about the lateness of the hour. We only just got the results back and I thought you would want to know right away..." Inara trailed off when Josephine made no sign that she had heard her. "Jo...?"

"I'm here."

"Perhaps you should sit down..."

"Inara..." Josephine pleaded quietly.

Inara took a quick breath before continuing. "It's true... you're pregnant."

Josephine closed her eyes and rested her head against the door. She had known for almost a month, but refused to believe or get tested for so long, happy that her oversized clothing had kept the others from seeing the minuscule amount of weight she had gained. But this wasn't really what had been worrying her. This she could deal with if she had to... but...

"And how far along...?" She asked, surprised at her own calmness.

"Almost fourteen weeks," Inara answered softly.

Josephine opened her eyes to regard the Companion, blinking a few times in quick succession, and letting her body slide down the door until she was sitting at its base.

Inara stepped forward in worry and knelt in front of her, placing a hand on top of the younger woman's head. "You're thinking that it might not be his... that it could be Rawley's..."

"Are you channeling River Inara?"

Inara ignored the spitefulness in Josephine's voice and continued. "But that's unlikely, and you shouldn't worry until we've had another test."

"I know, I know," Josephine responded tiredly. "But what if it is Rawley's Inara?"

The Companion remained quiet for a long moment before standing up and pulling Jo with her. "Then you'll deal with it... it's all you can do." Inara raised a hand to the other woman's face, wiping gently at the wetness that she hadn't realized had collected underneath her eyes. "So now you need to..." Inara prompted her quietly.

Josephine nodded and stepped reluctantly out of Inara's reach. "I need to tell Mal before I decide what to do."

"We could wave Serenity," Inara suggested.

"No... I think this needs to be done face to face, besides, he'd need to be around to confirm paternity." She turned to the small dresser against the wall and began pulling things out and piling them on the bed unceremoniously. "Now I just need to find Serenity."

"They're on Dyton, doing a... job. It's about two days journey."

Josephine looked up sharply at Inara's words.

"We've kept in contact," Inara continued, only slightly uncomfortable. "He was under the impression you didn't want to speak to him."

"I did... I mean I do."

Inara smiled and nodded. "That's good to hear. But I really think we should wave Mal first, let him come and get you."

Josephine shook her head and continued emptying the dresser before moving on to the small wardrobe. "No, I don't want to interrupt him while he's working... besides, if I speak to him now I'm afraid I'll loose my nerve," she replied honestly as she pulled a large rectangular box out of the wardrobe.

Inara watched quietly as she sat the box carefully on the bed. "Finally planning on giving him that?"

"Yes, thank you for helping me find it... and for everything Inara."

Inara nodded modestly and moved to the door, opening it halfway. "I'll make the travel arrangements in the morning."

Josephine stopped packing and turned to look at her. "Arrangements for two."

The Companion hesitated and turned back questioningly.

"I'm not sure when or if I'll be returning, and I'd like to take Mira with me."

Inara nodded again, somewhat surprised, and excused herself quickly.

Alone again, Josephine sunk down wearily on the bed, missing the box but upsetting the clothing she had set there moments before. The fear and anxiety she had been suppressing over the last ten minutes suddenly rushed to the surface as she looked down and placed a tentative hand over her stomach, unable to feel joy at the possibility of being a prospective mother.

She felt the tears begin to fall and whispered a question towards her stomach that she knew would get no response.

"Who are you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Josephine awoke for the fifth time after laying down only three hours before. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and was surprised, as she was the other four times, to find herself, once again, on a spaceship. During her three month stay at the Training House she had gotten used to sleeping on land again and Jo found the soft gentle sway of the transport vessel she was trying to sleep on somewhat unsettling.

She rolled onto her side, her eyes focusing in the darkness on the small bundle of blankets on the bunk across from her. Josephine had awoken early that morning, hoping to have a few hours to say goodbye to the other women, and was shocked to find Mira waiting outside their door, her few possessions shoved into a bag Jo had never seen before. As ususal, she could read nothing from the younger woman's expression and simply nodded before entering the room and saying her goodbyes to the other women. She mentioned nothing of the pregnancy and no one seemed terribly surprised that she would be leaving, but Jo noticed that their eyes did widen a bit when she mentioned that Mira would be accompanying her.

She shared a somewhat tearful goodbye with Inara as they waited for the ship to arrive in the same clearing Serenity had landed twelve weeks earlier. The Companion had managed to get the ship, which was captained by a jovial old man, to make an unplanned stop at the Training House. Josephine had assumed that a large amount of money had exchanged hands, that is until Inara had greeted the gentleman like an old friend. She and Mira were soon ushered aboard with their belongings and a tall muscled man in his early twenties, that had come with them from the training house, followed them closely. Jo watched the man warily and turned back towards Inara in protest.

She only smiled and shook her head, however, as she held up a hand and told Josephine in no uncertain terms that arguing against the impromptu bodyguard was useless. Jo didn't disagree that it was a respectable idea, though she was reluctant to tangle anyone else in the mess that was her life. And besides, she still had Zoe's pistol and was more than willing to use it if the need arose.

The transport ship was much smaller and less impressive than Serenity, so much so that she had almost immediately forgotten it's classification and informal name. The crew consisted of only three, one of which being the captain, and from what Jo could tell there was a pilot and another man who worked as a mechanic, among other things. There were only six other passengers, apart from she, Mira, and the young bodyguard; an elderly couple, a young married couple and their seven year old daughter, and an attractive young man around the age of seventeen who introduced himself as Wen, and explained that he was on his way to meet his mother, though he didn't say where.

Josephine did her best to steer clear of the others, making polite conversation when required, but saying nothing of herself or Mira, an omission that she knew made them even more curious, but she was simply too weary to form an adequate lie and too wary to actually tell the truth.

After a few hours of politely ignoring the way the other passengers stared at Mira's disfigured face and vacant expression, Josephine made their apologizes and hurried off to their shared room, only to be followed by the young bodyguard, which Josephine knew would only cause more questions and staring the following day.

The busy activities of that morning and day had succeeded in keeping Jo's mind off the fact that she was pregnant with what could be the child of a murdering, raping, tamade hundan. But now, in the darkness of the cabin, she found she had plenty of time to think and worry about her situation. She had absolutely no idea how Mal was going to react to her news. They'd never talked about children but they'd never taken any precautions either. Honestly, she'd always thought she was sterile, what with the multitude of injuries she'd sustained in that region of her body.

_What about later, when they decide to have children? Can't raise a family on a spaceship..._

Mal's words from so many months ago suddenly swarmed into her mind, and Josephine felt her stomach tie itself into knots as she buried her face against the pillow to keep her startled gasp from disturbing Mira. They had talked about it, only not in relation to themselves, she realized, and he'd made his thoughts very clear. So what if it was Mal's? She wouldn't give it up then, of that she was certain. Even if it meant leaving Serenity for good. But if it were Rawley's?

Josephine closed her eyes tightly, as though to keep his image from invading her mind. No, I won't think about that, she thought. It can't be, even Inara said it was unlikely... but try as she might, she couldn't help but wonder.

Josephine pulled her head away from the pillow suddenly and turned to stare at the wall next to her bunk. The strangest sound, almost like metal scraping metal, was emanating quietly through the wall. So quietly, that she was fairly certain that had she been asleep, she wouldn't have heard it all. She rose slowly, careful to make no noise and awake Mira, and moved to the door to investigate. As soon as she reached it however, the eerie sound had stopped and her hand hesitated on the doorknob, unsure of what to do next. She turned back around, years of unease prompting her to retrieve the gun from underneath her bunk. She checked to make sure it was loaded and that the safety was on before tucking it at the small of her back.

She opened the door just enough to poke her head out into the hallway and was met with a surprise. The young bodyguard Inara had insisted she take with her was sitting directly opposite the door, his head thrown back and eyes closed, snoring softly. She rolled her eyes and fought with whether or not to wake him for a short moment, before shutting the door softly behind her and moving down the corridor.

Josephine had no idea where she was going or what she was doing, until she strained her ears and heard footsteps and muttering a good deal ahead of her. The voice led her down the stairs and into the first room she had seen upon boarding the ship. She knew it was considered the cargo bay, but after seeing Serenity's cavernous room, this one looked more like a closet.

Her eyes finally fell on the source of the muttering and Jo was surprised to find a very tired and annoyed captain moving towards the main entrance controls. She had a moment to wonder if they'd actually landed before a strong arm seized her around the waist at the same time as a hand clamped sorely over her mouth, muffling her outcry. She was pulled backwards and then down, hidden behind some crates, before Wen's face came into view.

The young man put a finger to his lips, silently imploring her to remain quiet, and her eyes widened at the display but nodded her head in acquiescence.

At her nod, Wen released his grip on her waist and mouth and turned back towards the captain, crouching as low as he could behind the crates.

Josephine mimicked his position and turned her head towards him, lowering her voice to something below a whisper. "What's going on?"

"We're being boarded," Wen responded quietly, not taking his eyes off of the captain as the mechanical doors began to whir and slide apart.

Jo's heart skipped a beat, wondering if Nash had found her again, and whipped her head back towards the open doors to see that they had not landed. A strange sort of plastic looking corridor had extended from the ship only to connect to another a few feet away. She watched in amazement as four strong looking men and an even stronger looking woman walked across the plastic as though it were the most solid substance in existence. The ship's captain immediately started speaking quickly as they set foot inside.

"Now I must say this is getting ridiculous... I understand that these inspections are random and necessary, but we just had one two days ago!" The captain paused to compose himself a little before continuing. "And it is the middle of the night... everyone is asleep... I was..."

A shot rang out suddenly, and the captain, with a look of pure shock on his face, fell backwards. Josephine cried out in surprise, but moved her hand to her mouth to muffle it, and ducked her head back behind the boxes, hoping they hadn't heard her. Wen did the same and turned to look at her, a pained expression on his face. They heard one of the men giving orders, but couldn't make out exactly what he was saying. After hearing a few of them walk away, Josephine turned towards Wen again.

"Who are they? What do they want?"

"Slavers." He paused a moment, before turning away from her. "They want me..."

Her eyes widened in surprise and before she could think of anything else, she felt a fleeting moment of joy at the prospect that they weren't here for her... that she hadn't been the cause of the old captain's death.

Josephine stared at him a moment, waiting to see if he was going to explain, before more footsteps brought her attention back to the far side of the room. One by one the other passengers were being led, at gunpoint, down the stairs and into the room. Jo cringed at the sight of the little girl clinging to her father in fright. The pilot and mechanic followed, their eyes opening wide at the sight of their captain on the floor and the young bodyguard came behind them, looking dreadfully ashamed to have been caught asleep.

Josephine gasped as Mira's familiar face came into view, her arm clenched tight enough to bruise by the hands of the large muscular woman she had seen come aboard with the men. Jo heard herself whisper the young woman's name softly and, out of instinct, she reached around and pulled the gun from it's place at her back, clicking the safety off as she began to get to her feet.

A hand at her shoulder stopped her and pushed her roughly to the ground. Wen removed his hand as his eyes traveled from the gun to her face.

"Are you crazy?" Wen managed to sound angry even when taking pains to be quiet. "What are you going to do with that?"

Josephine scowled at him even though she knew he was right. She put the gun back in it's place and looked down, chewing on her lip, in thought.

What can I do, what can I do? She racked her brain for any sort of answer. She knew her one gun wasn't going to hold up against five people, but she refused to just sit there and do nothing.

She turned back to Wen, eyes shining with determination. "If I could just get to the bridge and get on the cortex I could send the ships coordinates to some friends... I know they would come."

Wen looked at her dubiously. "What... and get them caught too?"

"Oh they could handle it believe me... what?"

Josephine watched as Wen's gaze traveled up above her head.

"Well, well... mice in the parlor. We've been looking for you Wendell."

Josephine turned around to stare at the woman who'd spoken from behind her.

"I see you've been making friends," the woman said, laughter in her voice. She motioned with her gun that they should get up and join the others on the opposite side of the room. When neither of them moved quickly, the large woman grabbed Josephine by the back of her shirt and pulled her to her feet, pushing her roughly in the direction she wished her to go. Wen got up then, his eyes becoming angry, and walked on his own towards the others.

Josephine moved stiffly to where Mira was standing, an odd mixture of panic and calmness on her face, and took the young woman's hand in her own. She felt Mira instantly relax next to her and turned her head to find Wen had stopped in the middle of the room, a look of absolute revulsion on his face. Jo turned and followed his gaze to the heavy sliding doors to see that another, older man with a large beard and cultured manner had boarded the ship.

The older man stopped a few feet away from Wen and sighed dramatically. "Wendell, Wendell... what am I going to do with you?"

Wen paused as if trying to figure out if he was supposed to actually answer the question before speaking softly. "You could just let me go..."

The bearded man shook his. "You know I can't do that. What kind of father would I be if I let my only son abandon the family business?"

Josephine looked on in surprise as the two exchanged words in the center of the room, Mira's hand still held loosely in her own.

"I won't do it anymore," Wen began, shaking his head. "I can't sell people."

Wen's father took a step forward, his face becoming hard. "You can, and you will." He motioned quickly for two of his men and they eagerly stepped forward and seized the seventeen-year-old by the arms. Wen seemed to deflate all at once and let himself be led onto the other ship without protest.

His father watched him go for only a moment before turning back to the others and barking, "Line them up!"

Josephine and the others were pushed and prodded until they formed a straight line and the older man stepped up to the elderly couple at the beginning of the line. He stared at them for only a moment before looking at his man behind them.

"Too old," he said quickly before moving on down the line.

Josephine heard two shots, one after the other, and the elderly couple fell face forward into the steel floor. She forced herself to stay silent and grasped Mira's hand tighter.

Wen's father passed the pilot and the mechanic, stopping only slightly to smile at the little girl now whimpering in her father's arms, before stopping at Josephine's bodyguard.

Some bodyguard, Josephine thought bitterly as the older man appraised him. Satisfied, he moved to Mira, and stopped abruptly.

He regarded her closely for a long moment, but she looked past him, unable or unwilling to look him in the eyes. He reached a hand up and grasped her chin lightly, forcing her to turn her head so he could better see the scar tissue that ran from eyebrow to cheek on the right side of her face. All at once Josephine could feel the panic rising up in Mira as though it were flowing through their entwined hands. She felt dizzy and overwhelmed by it and brought her other hand up to roughly push his off of Mira's face.

"Don't touch her."

The old man looked shocked at what she had done, but Jo only had a moment to feel pleasure at it before she felt herself being forced to her knees. She felt the barrel of a gun pressed to the side of her head and heard the large woman's voice gasp from behind her.

"Sir, look at this," the large woman said loudly.

"What is it?"

"This ones been branded, already belongs to someone."

Josephine cursed herself silently for wearing such a loose fitting shirt. The woman must have seen the small brand on her back when she shoved her to the floor.

The older man stepped behind her to see for himself before coming back around and smiling at her. "You're a runaway?"

Josephine remained silent, eyes on the floor, and was rewarded with a sharp smack on the back of her head with the pistol which left her shaken for a moment. Instead of repeating the question, the old man simply moved on.

"You think your owner would pay to have you back?"

"No," she answered quietly, not wanting to get smacked on the head again.

"Oh no? Why's that?"

Josephine tilted her head up until she was looking at the smirking man in front of her. "Because I killed him."

He managed to look surprised for only a moment and then continued to smile down at her before turning to his men. "Get them on board. Put them in the cages and give them some food. Clemmons," he turned towards the man farthest from him, "fly this piece of goushi, stay close and follow us till we land. We can probably sell this ship for scraps... Mashang!" He turned on his heels, trusting that his men would do as he said.

Josephine was pulled back to her feet by the large woman and pushed in the general direction of the open doors and makeshift walkway. She stumbled and had trouble regaining her balance for a moment, making her think she'd been hit harder than she thought. She watched the others step around her quietly, but didn't see Mira with them. Turning around, she found Mira standing in exactly the same place she had been, ignoring the large woman who was trying, none so gently, to force her into the other ship.

She watched as though in a daze as the woman moved one of her large meaty hands from Mira's arm up to her face, giving it a sharp smack to get her attention. Mira's head whipped around painfully towards Jo, her mouth forming a small o and her eyes widening in surprise.

Jo's feet seemed to move forward of their own accord, and her arm came up in front of her, the gun clasped firmly in her hand, though she didn't remember pulling it out.

"I said don't touch her," Josephine spoke lowly, her voice sounding foreign as it reached her ears. The woman looked up in surprise at Jo's words and her eyes widened at the sight of the gun. She raised her own gun but Jo managed to knock the other woman's arm to the side as she pressed the barrel into the other woman's chest and froze.

She hadn't thought this far ahead. In fact she hadn't thought about it at all, only reacted. Just as her brain was finally catching up and scolding her for being so stupid, she was grabbed around the waist and lifted off the ground by one of the men, the gun wrenched from her hand by another man, before being dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

Josephine landed on her side, managing to smack her arm into the ground and take most of the blow before her head connected with the hard floor. She lay there, temporarily stunned, and saw the large woman's heavy boots coming towards her angrily, before her knees came into view as she squatted down in front of her. The woman balled her hand into Josephine's hair, pulling her head up brutally until Jo could see her face contorted in rage.

"That was a mistake," she spat, pressing her pistol into Josephine's temple, her finger straining over the trigger.

"Don't kill her."

Josephine could here the older man's cultured voice from somewhere behind her and the woman looked up suddenly, but didn't remove the gun.

"But..."

"Gwen, I said don't," the old man spoke sharply. His voice was closer now, and Jo guessed that he was standing just behind her. Gwen's eyes flickered defiantly from Josephine to the man before finally removing the gun and dropping Jo's head to the ground.

She couldn't lesson the impact this time and rolled onto her back as nausea overtook her and bright stars exploded in front of her eyes.

The old man's bearded face swam into view above her. "You've got spirit. Many a man would pay well to break it." He crouched down next to her as Gwen had done before. "But still... can't have your spirit causing trouble on my ship."

Josephine only saw a tiny flicker of metal, as he brought the butt of his gun down severely against her skull, before the world around her went black.

* * *

Kaylee weaved in and out of the throng of people on Dyton, hurriedly following Mal's retreating back. The young mechanic shook her head wearily as she sidestepped another person in her haste to catch up with him. The crowd thinned out as she reached the docks and she could clearly see the Captain about ten feet in front of her. He seemed to have slowed his pace a bit and Kaylee sprinted to catch up with him, sparing a few glances at the tall ships lined up to her right. 

She reached him finally and grasped his arm in an effort to get him to stop. He halted and stared down at her hand as though he'd forgotten she was with him.

Kaylee bended a little at the waist, breathing heavily as she tried to calm herself.

"Wode ma, give a girl a heart attack," she began between breaths. "What's got your knickers in a twist?"

Mal frowned at her question and continued walking, Kaylee at his side. "Badger... we've been here for almost a week and he's got us twiddling our thumbs, waitin'."

Kaylee snorted and stopped walking, forcing Mal to do the same as he frowned down at her curiously.

"You were grumpy before we got here...," she paused, her countenance becoming very serious. "Is it the lack of regular sex? Cause I know... it's hell."

Mal gave an exasperated sigh and raised his eyes to the sky in irritation, but when he lowered his eyes again, Kaylee could see the pain in them.

"What is it, really?" She spoke quietly, pretty sure that she already knew the answer.

Mal looked around him, as though looking for a way out of this conversation, before sighing again and settling his gaze on the young woman before him. "I told her I loved her Kaylee... and she stayed there."

"Mal," Kaylee placed her hand on his arm and could see him fight not to shrug it off. "You might not believe this, but she loves you, I know." Kaylee stared at him for a moment before smiling brightly and pulling her hand back to punch him lightly on the arm. "You're just a big old softy ain't you?"

His lips turned up in a tiny smile and he pushed her away lightly. "Don't go tellin' anyone, you'll ruin my reputation."

They continued walking in silence until Serenity loomed above them in the distance. Mal squinted his eyes at a tall figure standing on the ships ramp.

"Is that Zoe?"

Kaylee nodded and the two quickened their pace. Zoe called out to them when they were a few feet away.

"It's Inara, she says it's urgent."

Mal nodded and kept moving past her and up to the bridge, Zoe and Kaylee right behind him. He shooed River out of the pilot's seat and quickly turned his attention to the woman on the screen.

"Inara, what's wrong?"

The Companion wasn't expecting any pleasantries and kept to the business at hand. "It's Josephine... she left to meet up with you and hasn't contacted me like she said she would."

"Maybe she just ain't arrived yet?" Kaylee suggested.

Inara shook her head. "No... the trip shouldn't have taken that long and its been four days. I haven't heard from the man I sent with her either... he was supposed to check in."

Mal remained silent for a moment, the happiness he felt at Josephine's returning to Serenity turning quickly into fear.

"Why didn't you just wave me and have us come and get her?"

"I'm sorry Mal," Inara began, and he could tell that she meant it. "But she didn't want me to."

Mal fell silent again and jumped a bit when Zoe spoke from behind him. "What ship... you got coordinates, a tracking signal?"

Inara nodded. "It's a small transporter called The Finder. I'm sending you the signal to its pulse beacon now." She turned her attention back to the Captain. "Mal, I need to tell you, she's... she's..."

Mal watched in confusion as Inara seemed to fight with herself over what to say. After a long moment she finally spoke.

"She's got Mira with her."

He stared at her, still confused. He was fairly certain that wasn't what she meant to say.

"I got it," Zoe called out from Mal's right and he nodded at Inara and moved to end the transmission, but stopped when the Companion said his name.

"Mal... keep me informed?"

"I will." He ended the wave and joined Zoe, who was looking at a small flickering dot on another screen.

"It's here," Zoe said, tapping a finger against the screen, "near Athens, shouldn't be that far out if this is where they were headed. And it looks like it's following something, but I can't get a read on it... what do you want to do?"

Mal ran a hand absently through his hair in thought before answering her. "Go after it, but stay back... under its radar. Will follow it til it lands, see if we can't figure out what's going on... River?"

The young pilot nodded and sat back down in the pilots chair, flipping switches and making adjustments as the others moved into the corridor.

Zoe stopped Mal with a hand on his shoulder and he turned back to look at her.

"You think it's this Nash fellow?"

Mal shook his head and continued into the corridor. "I don't know... but whoever it is... for their sakes, they better hope she's still in one piece."

* * *

A Note From Me:

There may not be another update for a little while, as I'm having surgery tomorrow (the second one in less than a month... long story). Anyway, sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoy! Review please!


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry about the long wait. I hope this was worth it!

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The sun beat down brightly, warming Josephine's skin and the grass around her as she absently plucked a blade and twirled it between her fingers. She lay on her back, eyes to the blue cloudless sky, the familiar twinkle of birds and hard work in the distance, just like so many days of her childhood.

She knew instantly that she was home, on Sydney, but she couldn't remember how she came to be there. Even stranger was the soft warm presence beneath her head, of which Jo knew she should react but, whether it were the hot sun or the comforting warmth where her head rested, she felt utterly lazy and relaxed.

Josephine raised the blade of grass towards the sky, blotting out the sun and allowing her to look into the sky without squinting. A hand reached out from behind and took her own, leaving the grass to fall back to the ground. Again, she had the strangest sensation that she should have been startled, but she could only smile as Mal brought her hand up to his mouth, running his lips across her knuckles briefly. He kept her

hand held loosely in his own, and Jo heard him sigh softly from behind her but she dared not look back, for fear that he wouldn't really be there.

"This ain't real," he said softly.

"I know." She squeezed his hand lightly, as though afraid that if she applied any real pressure it would disappear. "How did I get here?"

"Not sure... I'm not even here."

His words were so quiet that she tilted her head back on his lap, his face coming into view for the first time. Mal smiled softly and brought his other hand to her face, tracing an invisible pattern across her cheek with one rough finger and locking his eyes with hers.

"Time to go," he whispered, his voice even quieter than before. Mal leaned over her slowly and Josephine closed her eyes as his lips found her forehead in a chaste kiss.

She could still feel her hand in his and his finger gently caressing her face, but when she opened her eyes again, the world around her was dark and cold.

She blinked a few times, moistening her eyes and bringing her new surroundings into focus. The lap she rested on belonged to Mira, and it was Mira's hand that she held, Mira's finger tracing a pattern across her face. Josephine looked up towards the young woman in an attempt to read her expression, but Mira was staring off into space as usual.

Jo sighed and turned her attention towards her surroundings once again. The room was dimly lit by only a few lights on the far wall but she could easily make out that she was in a cell of some sorts. It was large and held together by thick metal bars. Josephine had heard of old fashioned ships with brigs but had thought they were no longer in service, aside from law enforcement vehicles of course. The other passengers and surviving crew of the transport vessel all sat unceremoniously on the ground, remnants of old food and plates scattered about.

At the sight of the food Josephine felt her stomach lurch and immediately began to sit up. She only got about half way, however, before pain exploded behind her eyes and nausea threatened to overtake her. She closed her eyes and felt hands pushing her back down gently.

"Don't try to move just yet," a soft feminine voice spoke from above her and Jo opened her eyes to see the face of the young mother hovering over her.

Josephine closed her eyes again before speaking. "What's wrong with me?"

"You took a nasty blow to your head dear, you've been unconscious for four days."

Jo's eyes shot open at her words. "That's not possible."

The woman tutted softly, making Josephine rethink her age. "Obviously it is. Listen I know we've already technically been introduced, but just in case, my name is Elise. I used to be a nurse on Osiris, and I'm fairly certain you have a concussion."

Running a hand over the back of her head, Jo winced in pain as she brushed a very large bump on her skull. "Will I be alright?"

"I think so." Elise paused as though considering it. "We managed to get some liquids into you while you were out, but I imagine you're famished."

"I am. Can I sit up now?"

"I suppose, but slowly... that is if your friend here will let go of you." Elise's eyes traveled over Mira and then back to Jo. "She wouldn't let me get close enough to examine you for the first few days, but I think when you didn't wake up she finally gave in."

Josephine looked up again but the younger woman was still staring off into space as though oblivious to the conversation happening right under her nose.

"Mira?" Josephine waited for a response for only a moment before repeating her name more forcefully. "MIRA?"

The young woman looked down at her finally and released Jo's hand. Elise motioned for someone to her left and was soon joined by the man Jo had seen her with days before. "This is my husband Richard, if it's alright with you he's going to help..."

Josephine nodded and together the married couple had her leaning against the wall, her legs curled to her side, in a few minutes.

"Did you say something about food before?" Josephine rubbed her head, trying to quell the dizziness that had found its way there.

"I did," Elise smiled stiffly. "They bring it around this time everyday."

At Elise's words, the past days events swarmed back into her head painfully and she groaned. "Do we have any idea where they're taking us?"

Richard shook his head. "Not really. We've overheard some things, but nothing like the name of a planet or moon. But where ever we're going, they plan to sell us off, of that much I'm sure."

Josephine closed her eyes, trying to force the pain back enough to think clearly. "So probably some place on the rim... some place not really that settled."

"Most likely," Richard agreed.

Jo opened her eyes in time to see the little girl walk over to her father and climb into his lap. "They're coming daddy."

"Thank you xin gan." Richard rose to his feet, easily cradling the seven year old against him, and moved to the far side of the cage.

Elise nodded after them. "That's our daughter Libby. She was running mad in here with nothing to do, so now she's in charge of telling us when they're coming." Elise paused, her eyes forming a question as she looked at Josephine. "Do you know when yours is due?"

Jo started, her hands going absently to her stomach. "Is it really that noticeable?"

The older woman smiled at her kindly. "No I don't think so. But I worked in the maternity ward... I know what to look for." Elise paused again, and bit her bottom lip absently, as though silently pondering whether to continue.

"What is it?" Josephine prompted.

"Where's the father? Is it that gentleman who boarded with you?" Elise glanced at the bodyguard who sat uselessly by himself.

Jo's gaze flew first to her stomach and then back to Elise in surprise. Before she could realize what she was doing, she began to laugh softly. She knew that she must look crazy, but try as she might, she couldn't get herself to stop. Before long, her shoulders were shaking with the force of her laughter and tears had begun to creep out of her eyes until she wasn't sure if she was laughing or crying. The others glanced her way oddly and Elise put a tentative hand on her shoulder.

Josephine wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she finally began to quiet down and could meet the other woman's gaze again. "No, I don't really know him... it's a very long, confusing story."

"I would like to hear it someday."

"Maybe..." she placed a hand on her stomach again as a question popped into her head and turned back to Elise. "Is it alright, did the concussion hurt it?"

"I don't know. I could do some tests, but without my equipment it would really just be guess work. It takes it's nourishment from you, and you didn't have much to give it... I imagine it's even more hungry than you are."

As though brought on by Elise's words, Josephine looked up in time to see two of the strong muscled men come through a hallway on the far side of the room. In each of their hands was a large rusted tray, which they sat on the floor near the bars. The tallest one's eyes drifted to Josephine as she sat against the wall, and stepped towards her.

"Tell Mr. Pierce this one's alive," he barked back to his comrade. He grabbed a shock of rough looking white material from a shelf on the wall and thrust it threw the bars at her. "Put this on, should be arriving soon."

Josephine stared at his hand holding the fabric for a long moment before her eyes drifted over the rest of the people in the cell. For the first time she noticed they were all dressed in the dirty white fabric, even Mira. Long, loose dresses for the women, trousers and tunics for the men, all made out of the same coarse looking fabric.

"Do it, or we'll do it for you!" The large man shook the fabric in his hand, regaining Jo's attention and Elise got up to take it from him quickly.

The two men left soon after and Elise sat the clothing down next to Josephine.

"Let's get some food in you first, and then I'll help you change."

Josephine snorted loudly. "Why should we make it so easy for them?"

The older woman smiled slightly and shook her head. "Because we don't want to give them any excuse to hurt us, or my daughter. They've been almost... civil so far." Elise got up and went over to the trays, whispering quietly to those already gathered around it. She came back with two plates, one that seemed almost overflowing with a tan bread and some sort of vegetable paste. Elise sat this one down in front of Josephine before joining her on the floor.

"Everyone's given you a portion of theirs. It's not great, but it's edible."

Jo didn't care. She barely looked at it before she began eating ravenously, only pausing briefly to chew. Richard and Libby joined them a moment later, carrying a pitcher of water and three plates of food. He sat one in front of Mira, who, Josephine was surprised to see, began eating almost immediately.

Richard and his daughter situated themselves on the floor with Jo and Elise. He saw Jo staring at Mira and cleared his throat to get her attention.

"We've been taking care of her best we can, but it hasn't been easy. How my wife got her to change I'll never know."

Elise smiled. "I just told her that Josephine would want her to change and she did. That little girl has a lot of faith in you."

"Don't know why," Josephine mumbled between mouthfuls, "I'm the one that got her into this mess."

"Speaking of messes," Elise began, "we've had four days to come up with some way out of this..."

"And?" Josephine asked.

"And we have nothing," she admitted. "We've actually been very anxious for you to wake up. We thought maybe you might be able to figure something out."

"Why's that?"

She shared a look with her husband. "Well, back on the Finder, the tall woman called Gwen seemed to imply that you'd been in this situation before... and you had a gun."

"I haven't actually... not like this. And a lot of good that gun did me." Jo paused, as though unsure about how much to tell them. "But when I got to where I was going I was supposed to wave someone. They'll have assumed the worst when I didn't."

"Are you saying there'll be people looking for you?"

"Should be..." Josephine sighed and set her empty plate on the ground. "But whether or not they'll be able to find me... I don't know. If I could just get out of here and get on the cortex..." She paused as an idea popped into her head. "Wen... has anyone seen him?"

Elise shook her head. "I think they're afraid to let him in here... afraid he'll just let us go or something. Though where we would go on a spaceship I've no idea."

"He's the only one we could talk to... he might help us," Josephine suggested.

"Well," Richard began, "they did say we'd be landing soon, I'm sure we'll see him then."

Josephine nodded. "We've got to talk to him. He doesn't want to do this, he was trying to run away from it. What about the others? No offense, but I'm a little surprised you two are the ones in charge of planning."

Richard turned to look at the bodyguard and the two crew members. "They haven't said much of anything. I think they've already given up. But I'll be damned if I'm going to sit by and watch my daughter and my wife sold into slavery."

Elise put her hand on her husband's shoulder, but turned to Jo. "I think we'd rather die," she said quietly, so Libby, who was still eating, wouldn't over hear.

Josephine turned her gaze to the little girl, apparently oblivious to the conversation going on around her, and tried to imagine what it would be like for her to be separated from her parents at such a young age, forced to do hard labor... or worse.

"I don't blame you," Jo spoke softly, still staring at Libby.

She felt a slight tremor beneath her and placed her hand on the cool metal of the ships floor. "They started descending. We'll be breaking atmo soon."

Richard looked down at the floor and then back to Jo skeptically. "I didn't feel anything... how can you be sure?"

Josephine shrugged her shoulders. "I lived on a spaceship for a few months, you start to learn what things feel like."

Elise stood up suddenly. "Well we should get you changed, and then you can try to reason with Wen."

"If we even see him," Josephine admitted bitterly, standing up a bit shakily for the first time in four days. "If not... I don't think we have much of a chance."

"Maybe," Richard began. "But once we get on land we'll know better. We might be able to fight our way free during the transfer."

Josephine frowned and allowed herself to be ushered into the corner a short distance away by Elise. "With what, our fists? That's not going to do much good against their guns."

Richard stood up and turned his back, attempting to block his wife and Josephine from the others view. "Well at least we'll die trying."

Elise helped Jo remove her shirt and trousers and slip the coarse dress over her head. When they were finished, Josephine turned back to Richard.

"That's a very real possibility," Josephine spoke softly, just as the old bearded man called Mr. Pierce and a few of his goons stepped into the brig. Jo wasn't surprised in the least to see that Wen wasn't with them.

"Everyone up, hands behind your backs," Mr Pierce barked loudly, pausing for only a moment to make sure he was obeyed.

The heavy iron gate was opened and the small group was forced into a straight line. Josephine found herself near the middle, staring at the useless bodyguards back, the Finder's pilot and mechanic just in front of him. Mira and Elise were behind her, followed by Richard, holding Libby tightly to him, her tiny face pressed into his neck.

Josephine stood as still as she could while her hands were bound behind her back with a thin piece of material. She couldn't tell exactly what kind of apparatus it was, but she knew from it's slick, soft texture that it wasn't any type of rope she'd seen before.

"Please... just let me hold her."

Jo cocked her head to the side until she could see Richard out of the corner of her eye. One of Pierce's men was staring at him menacingly, and Richard had taken a step back from the others.

"Put her down so I can bind your hands," the man spoke lowly.

Richard hesitated, his eyes shifting between the man and his wife.

"I suggest you put her down yourself. If Olen takes her from you he won't be half so gentle as you would like." Mr. Pierce's cultured voice floated over loudly from the cage's gate and Richard's eyes shot to him. "And if you set her down now, we'll leave her hands free," he continued more quietly.

Richard shared one more look with Elise, before slowing lowering a whimpering Libby to the ground. He patted her on the head once as she clutched at his leg before finally placing his hands behind him.

When they had finally finished with Richard, their captors led them, single file, to the ships main entrance. Somewhere along the way, Josephine felt them land softly and they were joined by Gwen and a sullen looking Wen. Jo tried frantically to catch his eye but failed every time.

Pierce stopped at the controls to the doors and ramp and turned to address them.

"We aren't going to bind you together, but a piece of advice," he paused for a moment, smiling pleasantly. "I wouldn't try to run if I were you. You will undoubtably be picked up by one of the other trading companies, and they aren't nearly as pleasant as we are." With that, he hit a button on the control panel and the doors slid open.

Josephine had no idea what time of day it was and found herself unprepared for the bright, harsh sunlight that blinded them. After her eyes had adjusted to the light, she saw that the planet, or possibly moon, was much as she expected. It was dry, hot, and flat. A few scattered buildings in the distance indicated a settlement of some sort, and it appeared as though clusters of different colors were moving around together outside the buildings. She blinked in confusion as they were led down the ramp and onto the world. She saw that they had landed among many other spaceships of various shapes and sizes, and Jo assumed they belonged to either potential buyers or other slavers. The thought made her nauseous.

Mr. Pierce led the way towards the throng of moving colors, his men moving up to flank Jo and the others. By some manor of luck, Wen wound up just to her right and she turned her head towards him.

"Wen?" Josephine lowered her voice to something below a whisper.

He continued staring straight ahead, but flinched at the sound of his name, indicating that he had heard her.

She stared at him for a moment, waiting for him to acknowledge her. When he didn't she tried again.

"Wen... please."

"I can't," he finally whispered back, his voice coming out strained.

"You can... you have to."

"Bi zui!" Josephine started as Gwen came up behind Wen and grabbed him by the shoulder. "In the back Wendell." She pushed him roughly and he immediately obliged, Gwen taking his place next to Josephine.

She smiled at Jo cruelly and stepped closer until their shoulders bumped together as they walked.

"You know," Gwen began quietly, "even if he really wanted to help you, there's nothing he could do." She pointed a large meaty hand out in front of them. "You see that? There just cattle, like you."

Josephine looked past the head of the bodyguard in front of her and gasped audibly. Now that they were closer, she could see that what had appeared to be moving colors were really hundreds of people, dressed similarly to herself and the others, only grouped together in different colored garments. It was some sort of coding system. A way to tell who belonged to what group of slavers.

"They all used to be like you," Gwen continued. "Hopeful, making plans, waiting to be rescued. But no one is coming for them... and no one is coming for you, because no one cares. You know why?"

Jo kept staring straight ahead, her hands clenching uncomfortably from where they were bound behind her back.

When Josephine made no inclination that she had heard her, Gwen placed one of her large hands under Jo's chin, turning her face towards her.

"Moo."

Jo stared into Gwen's smiling face, anger coursing through her and wishing her hands were free so she could smash in the smirking woman's nose. She remained calm, however, and turned her head back to the front.

As they grew closer to the crowd, the noise and unpleasant smell threatened her senses and caused her to flinch. Pierce stopped them just short of the crowd as a short, round man approached him. Jo watched them talk for a few moments before Pierce passed the man a few coins. The short man wrote something down on the small ledger he carried with him and pointed towards the center of the throng before walking away briskly.

Pierce turned to one of his men and spoke in hushed tones. Before long they were moving into the crowd and Jo found herself being jostled, struggling to keep her balance with her hands behind her back. They reached a small wooden platform and stopped again, Mr. Pierce turning towards them.

"The organizer of this little function has reluctantly agreed to let us begin earlier than we were scheduled. I'm going to take you up there," he pointed to the platform, "one at a time, and we'll begin the bidding. They may want to look you over. My advice?" He smiled again, still playing the jovial old man. "Let them." His smile faltered a little. "If you try anything, try to run, my men will not hesitate to shoot you. Any questions?"

Yes, how can you live with yourself you hundan, Josephine thought bitterly. She stood there rigidly as the reality of her situation flooded over her.

"This is really happening," she whispered to herself as Pierce brought the Finder's mechanic up on the platform. Her eyes roamed the crowd as Pierce began to speak. Over the faces of men and women, both old and young, some dressed handsomely, others in farmers clothes. Some bidding eagerly, coming up to inspect their potential purchase, others simply watching and chatting casually to those around them, seemingly oblivious to the fallacy going on around them.

She caught snippets of Pierce's words as they floated down from above her: "Strong build... good with machines... hard worker."

Before long the mechanic had been sold to an old couple and was led off into the crowd. The pilot soon followed. One look at how handsome and strong Josephine's incompetent bodyguard was and he was gone too.

Gwen grasped Jo by the arm and brought her up the few steps to the raised platform. She went numbly and without protest, her docility surprising them both. She barely heard what Pierce was saying about her, but started when he turned her around and pulled the back of her dress down a bit.

"This one will be easy to manage. You see that? She's already been owned, knows the ropes this one."

Josephine was turned back around roughly as the bidding began. A large man near the front raised his hand.

"I'll give you forty for her."

Pierce shook his head smiling. "Sir, this is an experienced slave, is that the best you can do?"

Josephine lowered her eyes to the wooden planks beneath her as the bidding continued. It went on for a few minutes, getting as high as a hundred. It seemed no one wanted to go any higher than that and after a few moments she looked up to see who wanted to buy her.

"Two hundred!"

Josephine's head jerked sharply to the right in astonishment at Jayne's familiar gruff voice.

"Two fifty!"

Her head jerked to the left as the sound of Simon's voice reached her ears and her mouth dropped open in surprise.

The crowd began murmuring loudly as Jayne turned angry eyes towards the Doctor. "Three hundred!"

"Four hundred!" Simon retorted.

Josephine could practically feel Pierce salivating next to her and she began to smile.

The crowd gasped as Jayne took a few menacing steps towards Simon and pushed back his coat to reveal a large gun. "Five hundred!"

"Six hundred!" Simon shouted quickly.

Jayne growled in frustration and took the last few steps towards Simon, balling his hands in the Doctor's shirt and raising him a little until his toes skimmed the ground.

The crowd grew louder and began moving back as a group. Josephine's smile grew wider as she saw Zoe and River pushing their way through the throng out of the corner of her eye. She began searching the crowd frantically, knowing that he was out there somewhere too.

"Gentlemen please," Mr. Pierce sputtered next to her. "There's no need for this. I'm sure we can come to some arrangement," he said loudly to be heard over the crowd.

When no one paid any attention to him, he turned startled eyes to Josephine, who was now grinning broadly. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her slightly, his eyes betraying his sudden alarm.

"What are you doing? Why are you smiling?"

Josephine looked him in the eyes calmly, the gleeful expression never leaving her face.

"Because we're getting out of here... and you're in big trouble."


	4. Chapter 4

A Note From Me:

It's been a long time since I updated and I apologize to anyone who's been following this story. The truth is, life does get in the way, but it feels like I've been writing this chaper off and on FOREVER! I kept deleting entire passages and rewriting them. To be perfectly honest, I'm still not completely happy with the way it turned out... but here goes. Enjoy.

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Pierce's eyes flashed angrily and he tightened his grip on Josephine's arms. "What have you done?" 

Jo winced at the added pressure but remained silent, the smile finally leaving her face.

The bearded man's eyes turned back to the quickly retreating crowd and widened as he saw the two men now openly trading blows. He turned his back on them, dragging Josephine off the platform.

"Gwen!" he called loudly, and the tall woman appeared out of nowhere, a frown etched across her face.

He shoved Jo towards the woman and gestured to the others. "Get them back on the ship, something isn't right."

Pierce pulled a gun from under his tailored shirt as his head glanced from left to right before turning back to Gwen. "Where's Wendell?"

"I don't know Sir... I haven't seen him since the fight broke out."

The old man grumbled under his breath and turned toward the crowd, quickly disappearing in the throng of bodies. Josephine thought she had heard him say "coward" but couldn't be sure, as Gwen's rough hands were now pulling her in the opposite direction. She craned her neck behind her, relieved to see that Pierce's other men had grabbed Mira and the small family, and that they weren't far behind.

Josephine watched as Gwen glanced over the heads of the crowd to the ships behind them in the distance. She seemed to struggle with her decision for a moment, before trading one crowd for another as she swiftly changed direction and slipped into the sea of bodies behind the auction platform.

Josephine felt as though she were being swallowed by a wave of color as the larger woman forced their way through the color-coordinated slaves still waiting to be auctioned off. The different pigments seemed to swim before Jo's eyes as the reality of the situation hit the others and their captors tried to keep them in line.

As quickly as they entered, they stumbled out of the jostling chaos, and Josephine, taking deep breaths, took in their new surroundings. They were right outside the small smatter of buildings that indicated the remnants of a town and even farther away from the ships than they had begun. Jo craned her neck behind her as Gwen led her in between the rundown buildings and frowned as she realized the others were no longer following them.

Josephine dug her heels into the hard earth at her feet, forcing Gwen to stop and look back angrily.

"Keep moving," she spat, pulling Jo a few feet in front of her, her bound hands almost causing her to loose her balance.

"But," Jo panted as she fought to catch her breath, "You've lost the others."

"They know where the ship is... they'll make it or they won't." She tugged Josephine's arm again, pushing her gun into Jo's back. "And if you don't get moving, maybe I'll tell Mr. Pierce we had a little accident. I doubt he'll care much now."

Jo resumed their quickened pace, trying to push her worries over Mira and Elise's small family to the back of her mind. She glanced around her quickly as Gwen forced them left, around another building, the shouts from the crowd never getting any quieter. She realized suddenly that the larger woman was trying to skirt around the crowd in her attempt to return to the ships as opposed to the much faster and yet slightly more dangerous direction of straight through the mass of people.

Loud gunshots rang out from the other side of the buildings, and Gwen slid to a stop, forcing Josephine to do the same.

"Goushi!" Gwen turned to face Jo, panic evident in her features. "Our stops have never been compromised. Who's following you?"

"Why do you assume someone's following me?" Jo feigned innocence.

"Because pofu, everything was fine until Mr. Pierce took you up on the auction block." Gwen raised her gun until it was pointed squarely at Josephine's chest as she stepped closer and lowered her voice to a growl. "Do you think it will all stop if I end you right here?"

Josephine stared at the woman in front of her, silently weighing her options. She didn't think Gwen actually expected an answer, and she let her sarcastic comment choke in her throat. It wouldn't do her any good, in fact, it might just get her shot.

As if someone were reading her thoughts, a muffled gun shot rang out from behind Gwen, startling them both. Jo only had a moment to react as she watched Gwen's eyes widen in shock. Josephine didn't feel as though she had been shot but her bound hands kept her from making sure.

Gwen tumbled forward into Jo quickly, the barrel of the gun hitting her chest as it was pressed between them.

They hit the ground roughly, Jo's bound hands scrapping on the hard earth. The gun barrel slid to the side from Gwen's weight and Josephine said a silently prayer as the larger woman's finger jerked the trigger. The discharge was loud and for a moment Josephine had the odd sensation of being deaf. She watched a piece of the wood building next to them splinter before turning back to Gwen's lifeless body.

She struggled underneath the larger woman for a few seconds, unable to budge her and wishing for the umpteenth time that day that she had her hands free.

The sound of footsteps ceased her struggles and she tried to peer around Gwen's large frame only to find herself blinking into the harsh sun. The footsteps got closer until Josephine could make out the boots of the person they belonged to. Her eyes traveled upwards over the mostly black silhouette until they reached her unknown saviors face and she gasped in surprise.

"Wen?"

The young man looked down at Gwen, frowning. He hesitantly reached out with his left boot and nudged her body, jostling Josephine in the process.

"Is she... is she dead?"

Jo studied Wen's handsome but currently dumbfounded face for a short second before answering.

"She is... that can sometimes happen... when you shoot a person." Josephine paused. "Not that I'm not grateful, of course, but do you think you could get her off of me?"

Wen glanced down at Josephine in embarrassment and nodded. He quickly moved around to Gwen's legs and stooped over to take them in his hands while Jo watched. She looked behind him in surprise however, when a new, taller, shadow fell across her face.

The new arrival had been stealthy and Wen hadn't heard the person approach. He gave a startled cry as a strong arm wrapped around his chest and he felt the prick of metal against his throat, forcing him upright again.

"Zoe NO!"

The tall woman froze, but didn't remove her arm from Wen's chest or the knife from his throat. Zoe turned calm eyes to Josephine and gave her a questioning look.

"He was helping," Jo stated plainly.

Zoe stared at Josephine skeptically for a moment before finally releasing the young man and assisting him with the body at their feet.

"Who was she?" Zoe asked, nudging Gwen's body with her foot, just like Wen moments before.

Josephine opened her mouth to answer as Wen helped her to her feet, but the young man beat her too it.

"A very mean, dangerous woman," Wen answered quietly.

Jo stared down at the large red stain on Gwen's back and was surprised at the slight nausea that overtook her. She couldn't remember ever reacting this way to something so mildly violent, not after everything she had already seen or been through. She placed her hand tentatively at the side of her stomach as she realized where the nausea most likely came from.

All the madness that had been happening around her had succeeded in doing what nothing else had been able to do before. She had completely forgotten that she was pregnant and the whole reason for starting out on this damned trip in the first place: to find Mal and tell him... tell him what exactly, she hadn't quite figured out yet.

"Jo?"

Josephine looked up to see Zoe and Wen staring at her oddly. She blinked slowly a few times, regaining her focus.

"Sorry." She turned slightly to the side, showing Zoe her bound hands. "Could you?"

The taller woman stepped forward swiftly, the small silver knife still in her hands, and sliced through the material binding Jo's wrists.

Jo immediately pulled her hands in front of her and flexed her wrists, rubbing them together in the process. Her muscles ached, but the soft material hadn't left any marks on her wrists, as though it had never been there.

She glanced back down at Gwen's motionless body in silence for a moment before going to her knees beside it.

Zoe and Wen watched in confusion as Jo tentatively put her arms beneath the large woman's torso and leg, struggling, even with her free hands, to turn her over.

"A little help, please?"

The others shared a quick look before going to their knees on either side of Josephine, and together they turned Gwen's body onto it's back.

A flash a metal in the bright sun brought Jo's eyes to what she had been looking for, the large pistol still grasped loosely in the dead woman's hand. She retrieved it quickly and pushed herself back to her feet, the others following. The large gun barely fit in her hand, but she checked to make sure there were rounds in it just the same, before turning back to the others.

"Alright, let's go." Jo turned on her heels, in the direction of the chaos, silently trusting that the others would follow, but was stopped short by a strong hand on her shoulder.

Josephine turned her head to find Zoe's dark hand on her shoulder, holding her back. She turned back to the first mate, Zoe's hand dropping back to her side in the process, to see her shaking her head from side to side.

"Captain's orders were to find you and get you back to Serenity, ain't no time for anything else," Zoe stated matter-of-factly.

Josephine shook her head, mimicking Zoe. "I can't do that and you know it. I'm not trying to be noble, it's the last thing from my mind. But Mira's out there somewhere and I have to find her." Josephine flashed suddenly on the tiny family she'd met aboard the Finder. "And three others. A husband and wife and their little girl."

"But Mal said..." Zoe protested.

"Gorrammit Zoe, I don't give a jiashi xingjiao what Mal said, you can help me or you can get out of my way!"

Josephine turned on her heels once more, a little surprised that Zoe didn't just grab her and throw her over her shoulder, and hurried back around the buildings towards the crowd. She was even more surprised, however, when Zoe stepped up next to her, matching her quick stride, eyes determinedly on the path in front of them.

"Hey, wait up!"

Josephine felt the tiniest of smiles grace her lips as Wen's voice called out from behind them and she could hear his boots beating hurriedly into the dirt.

Jo retraced Gwen's previous steps. They turned right around an old wooden building and were back in the main square again. The crowd had thinned and she could hear the distant rumble of engines as multiple spaceships prepared to take flight. She skidded to a halt just outside the buildings, Zoe following suit.

"Who...who... are we looking for again?" Wen panted, having finally caught up.

Zoe turned skeptical eyes to him, but it was Jo who spoke first. "We?"

Wen lowered his eyes to the hard dirt at his feet, embarrassment crossing his features. "I was hoping, since I helped you... with Gwen... that maybe you'd give me a lift out of here."

Jo stared at him solemnly for a moment. "Odd request... considering none of this would really be happening if it weren't for you anyway."

Zoe turned confused eyes to Josephine as the small amount of hope in Wen's face washed away.

"Fair enough, I guess." Wen turned from them as though he were going to walk away, but quickly faced them again. "I'll still help though, if you'll let me."

Josephine smiled slightly, realizing that their situations weren't that dissimilar. After all, hadn't she inadvertently gotten Mal and the rest of Serenity's crew hurt on more than one occasion in her attempt to flee from Rawley? She sighed as the memories washed over her and met Wen's eyes.

"Listen... I can't promise anything, it's not really up to me" she began slowly. "But we'll try to take you with us."

Wen smiled brightly, and when he did his whole face shone, making Josephine gasp slightly. He truly was a beautiful young man.

"Good enough for me! Let's find your friends then and get out of here!"

Josephine nodded and turned back to the jostling, though somewhat smaller, crowd. "Right... after you Zoe."

Zoe turned confused eyes to her again. "Shenme? You didn't have a plan?"

Jo threw her hands into the air. "Do I look like plan girl? You're the one with the expertise in this area!"

Zoe, managing to only look slightly annoyed at Josephine's exasperated air, turned away and stared at the crowd again. She spoke after a few short moments.

"Where was that woman taking you?"

"Gwen? Back to the ships... Mira and the others were being taken there by more of the slavers goons," Jo answered.

"You know what this ship looks like?"

Josephine thought for a moment. "I didn't really get a good look at the outside, I'm not sure."

"I know what it looks like," Wen answered quietly.

Zoe nodded. "Good. Then we make our way towards it and look for the others. Stay together. The Captain, Jayne, River and Simon are out there somewhere looking for you..." Zoe trailed off. "Come to think of it, we rushed in to this mighty hastily... should of had some sort of communications set up."

Jo blinked in surprise. "That isn't like you guys."

"We were worried... makes you act stupid," Zoe stated matter-of-factly. "Alright, lets go."

Zoe lead them straight into the crowd, with Wen bringing up the rear. It seemed to be consisted mostly of slavers trying to keep their property in line, but, now that the buyers seemed to have fled, the slavers were out numbered and their prisoners were becoming aware of it.

Slowly, but surely, Zoe pushed their way through the throng of bodies, none of which seemed to pay them the least bit of attention. Josephine turned her head left and right, searching for Mira or Elise and Richard, and every so often she would catch a glimpse of Simon or Jayne flanking them. She was relieved to know that she and Zoe had been spotted but couldn't help wondering where Mal was during all of this.

A sharp elbow to her left side caused Jo to loose her train of thought and she turned in that direction, gun at her waist. She drew her breathe in quickly as she spotted a familiar face a few yards away.

"Mira!" She turned back to the taller woman's back in haste. "Zoe, I've seen Mira... this way!" Josephine swung her head back in the direction she had seen the young woman only seconds before but she was gone now, as though the crowd had swallowed her whole. She stared in disbelief for a moment, before pushing her way left, a newfound determination in her eyes. She vaguely heard Zoe calling out to her above the noise of the crowd, but she pressed on, forcing her way to its edge. She stopped for a moment to catch her breathe and looked out into the distance at the ships that still seemed impossibly far away.

If that was Mira I saw, Josephine thought, she must have gotten away. Otherwise they surely would have had her on the ship by now.

She glanced behind her for a moment, her eyes searching for a glimpse of Zoe or Wen in the crowd but she couldn't see them. She fleetingly pondered going back in search of them, but there was no guarantee she would find them again. She opted instead, now free of the crowd, to keep moving towards the spaceships.

The sparse landscape left little cover and Josephine knew, if they were looking, they would almost certainly see her coming.

She spotted a small wooden work shed in the distance and made her way towards it. It was close enough to the ships that, from there, she might be able to figure out which one belonged to Pierce.

Jo hesitated for a moment as she got closer and the angle of the sun was forced behind one of the large ships, allowing her to see that someone was sitting, propped up, against the small shed. She squinted, trying to see better, before realization hit her.

"Wode me," she whispered to herself as she broke into a run, the heavy gun out in front of her.

She fell to her knees in front of the first body, Richard's body, and shakily pressed a finger to his throat, hoping desperately for a pulse. When she felt nothing, a strangled sob escaped her throat and she moved to the next body. Elise's small frame had been hidden behind her husbands, but now Jo could see her clearly. Face slack, eyes wide, shoulders slumped down. Her stomach was a mess of red, as though whoever had done this hadn't thought one bullet would be enough to kill her, but had instead emptied the entire clip into her.

Josephine shook her head fiercely back and forth, willing herself not to cry, but as she turned her head she caught sight of something a few feet away that wouldn't allow it. A few feet away from her mother lay Libby's small broken body and Jo rushed over to it. She absently laid the gun in the dirt as she used both hands to check for the little girls pulse. But like her father, she found none. She sat back on her heels and slammed her hands into the ground in frustration.

Jo whipped her head around as a small, pained cough issued from the shed and she thought she saw Elise make the tiniest of movements. Hastily, she wiped the tears from her eyes, leaving dirty smudges across her cheeks, and hurried over to the young mother.

She put her hands on Elise shoulders as she spasmed slightly, trying to move her arms.

"Don't try to move," Josephine spoke quietly, moving her hands from Elise's shoulders to her ruined stomach, trying to stop some of the blood flow. She pressed firmly, making Elise gasp slightly in surprise, and looked around frantically for someone to help.

Elise let out a rattling cough, forcing Jo to turn back, and a small trail of blood seeped out of the corner of her mouth.

"Where's Lib... Libby?"

Josephine's heart broke in two at the woman's question and she painfully forced a smile to her face. "She's coming, she'll be here soon."

"Is she hurt?"

"No, of course not," Josephine lied as fresh tears crept out of the corners of her eyes. "She's almost here, you just have to hold on."

Elise's eyes rolled back into her head for a moment before focusing on Jo again. "Richards dead... and I'm dying."

"You're not... you just have to hold on."

Elise tried to laugh and the sound rang horribly in Josephine's ears. "Yuchun di nu hai. You can't fool me... I was a nurse remember."

She coughed again, sending more blood from her mouth. "Where's Libby, where's my xiao nu hai?"

"She's almost here," Josephine repeated.

"Not going to make it... tell her... tell her I love her." She paused and gripped Jo's wrist with more strength than she thought possible. "And promise me, you'll make sure she's safe... that you'll take care of her... Promise?"

The smile left Jo's face and she nodded at the dying woman. "Of course I will."

"Thank you," Elise smiled and a few moments later, took her last breath.

Josephine sat back on her heels once again and raised her palms in front of her face. They were still wet with Elise's blood and other fluids and she scrubbed them furiously against the course white fabric she wore. When her hands felt raw she stopped and looked down at the thick smears on her simple dress, over her stomach, and it managed to push her that extra step.

Jo crawled on her hands and knees until she was a few feet from Richard and Elise's bodies and retched violently into the dirt until nothing more would come and she felt entirely empty. She stayed like that, head hanging down, for a few moments until a shadow fell over her and the tips of brightly polished boots appeared beneath her eyes.

Before she had a chance to look up, the owner of the boots fisted a strong hand into her hair and pulled tightly, forcing Josephine to her feet and face to face with an angry, bearded Pierce.

"Thirty years," he spat, his face so close to her own that she could feel his breath on her skin. "Thirty years, I've been in this trade and nothing like this has every happened... not till you."

He paused, moving his hands from her hair to her neck, and Josephine clenched her hands over empty air, suddenly wondering what had become of Gwen's gun.

He squeezed slightly and lifted until her toes skimmed the ground, a show of strength that defied his age.

"My men are dead... every last one of them, so I think a quick bullet to the head is to good for you." He continued pressing against her throat and Josephine's hands closed over his own in a feeble attempt to pry them off. After a short while white spots began forming over her eyes and her struggles lessened.

Just as she thought she was about to black out Pierce's body flinched and she was dropped unceremoniously to the hard earth.

She landed on her back, what little air she had left knocked out of her, and stared openmouthed at the scene that now played out before her.

Mira had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and launched herself onto the old man's back. Josephine watched in astonishment as Pierce desperately tried to shield his eyes from the girl's furious scratching and at the same time buck her off his back.

It was like watching some hideous version of the piggyback ride she remembered from her childhood, and if the situation had been less dire, Jo might have even laughed.

Reality came rushing back suddenly, and Jo made use of Pierce's temporary distraction by retrieving the gun she'd left by Libby's body. She turned back around in time to see Pierce throw Mira to the ground and pull a small revolver from underneath his shirt.

"Don't!" Josephine raised her own gun and raced back to them, praying she wouldn't be too late, when a loud gunshot rang out from the opposite direction. She saw Pierce fall to his knees in front of Mira and behind him, in the distance, Malcolm Reynolds and the rest of Serenity's crew, running towards them.

Josephine froze, the gun still out in front of her, in surprise.

Mal payed practically no attention to the man with the gunshot wound in his leg, except to take his gun away. He motioned for Zoe to help Mira up and made his way straight to Jo, where she still stood in shock.

"This isn't the reunion I had in mind," Mal spoke quietly when he was in front of her.

"No," Josephine admitted. "Me niether."

Mal stepped closer and placed a hand to her cheek. "I mean, look at you... you're filthy."

She laughed at that, a soft bray that was cut short as Mal's lips claimed her own in a tender kiss. Jo had forgotten how deliciously warm those lips could be and she felt as the world was falling away as she moved closer to him. She pulled back after a moment and looked down to see that, in a sense, the world had fallen away. Jo hadn't noticed Mal lift her and guide her legs around his waist in an effort to bring their mouths closer together. She blushed in surprise and uncurled her legs, forcing him to let her slide back to the ground.

"Wendell!"

They both turned around as Pierce yelled out to his son. Josephine's eyes roamed over the others to see if the handsome young man was still with them and she found him cowering behind the much taller Zoe, avoiding his fathers gaze.

"Wendell, help me!"

Mal turned back to Josephine and took her hand. "Time to go," he spoke, tugging gently on her hand.

Jo glanced over her shoulder at Richard and Elise's bodies, still propped up against the shed. "But..."

"There isn't any time xin gan," Mal said, reading her expression. "The laws on it's way... best not be here when they arrive."

Josephine hesitated, still staring at the bodies, and Mal placed his other hand under her chin, turning her head so that she was looking at him.

"You can't do anything for them now. The Feds will take care of it. That's one thing they're good at... grave diggin'."

Josephine nodded and allowed him to lead her back to the others, where a whimpering Pierce was still crying out for his son to help him.

"Lets get back to Serenity," Mal addressed the others before turning to a terrified looking Wendell. "You comin' with us kid?"

Wen's eyes darted back and forth between Mal and Jo's face in surprise before nodding.

"Then best get a move on," Mal spoke, leading the way.

Zoe hesitated, staring down at Pierce for a moment. "Sir?"

"Leave him," Mal answered Zoe, still walking with Josephine. "Let the Feds handle the hundan, it's what they get paid for," he spoke softly, only Josephine close enough to catch the weariness in his voice.

They walked for a short while, well past the other ships that were left, until Serenity came into view and Josephine could see what was unmistakably Kaylee jumping up and down on the platform. As they got closer she could see a few boxes piled up outside.

"Are those my things?"

Mal nodded and stopped walking, forcing her to do the same. "Yours and Mira's. Found 'em when I was searching the Finder."

Josephine couldn't hide her surprise. On the very top of the pile was the large rectangular box that held the present Inara had helped her find for Mal.

"River," Mal called out loudly, looking behind him for the young psychic. "Get us ready to fly."

River nodded and led Mira past them, but the young woman craned her head back towards Jo, who tried her best to smile reassuringly as they entered Serenity.

"Simon, show our young guest to his room... Zoe and Jayne, get those boxes on the ship."

Zoe headed for the boxes, Simon and Wen not far behind her. As the Doctor passed, however, he rubbed his jaw and jerked his thumb behind him towards Jayne.

"He hit me!"

Josephine couldn't help but smile at the outrage in his voice as he passed. Jayne strolled after him, whistling softly under his breath before shouting back to Simon.

"Yeah, well... Mal said to make it look realistic!"


	5. Chapter 5

Josephine left Mira's room and walked along the metal grating of Serenity's floors slowly, relishing the soft sway of the ship in space that she had missed so terribly. It was late, or at least she thought it was late, and everyone seemed to be in their bunks, sound asleep after another tiring rescue. She had gotten Mira cleaned up and washed away all of the blood and dirt of the day from herself while Mal waved Inara and let her know that Jo was safe now, though he didn't know what had become of the young man Inara had sent with her. She now wore one of the simple dark dresses Inara had given her, grateful for it's soft cotton material after the coarse white fabric she'd been forced to wear.

She shared a joyful reunion with the ever enthusiastic Kaylee, just barely managing to tear herself away from the young woman's happy air. She had spoken to River briefly, trying to understand how Mira had managed to get away from Pierce's men, but either the young psychic truly didn't know or simply refused to share her knowledge with Josephine.

She sighed as her footsteps echoed across the cargo bay and she climbed the stairs to the upper level and the crew quarters, in search of Mal's bunk. Somehow she knew he would be awake and that he had been waiting for her to come to him. She stopped just inside the corridor and glanced towards his bunk. The hatch was open and she could make out a faint light emanating from beneath it.

She hesitated there, unsure suddenly of how to proceed. Josephine knew she had to tell him now and anxiety washed over her. If only she could be certain as to his reaction, but the man was still very much a mystery to her, and she just wasn't sure. Would he be happy? Confused? Or god-forbid, outraged? She sincerely hoped it wasn't the last but doubted it would be the first. The hard part, she realized, wasn't necessarily going to be telling him she was pregnant, but telling him it might not be his.

She let the different scenarios play out in her head for a moment before taking a step in the bunks direction. Only one way to know for sure, she thought. The sooner I get this done, the sooner Simon can run his tests and, one way or another, we'll know.

She took another step and froze.

"His present... I should give him his present first," she whispered to herself. Ignoring the voice in the back of her head that told her she was simply delaying, she hurried back down the stairs to the cargo bay where the majority of her things still lay. She found the large white box propped up against some crates in the corner and lifted it with some difficulty. It wasn't particularly heavy so much as it was awkward and she struggled a bit as she made her way back up the steps.

Once she was back in the corridor, she made her way to the ladder leading into Mal's bunk and peered down, unsure if she should knock or not. She decided against it and made her way down the ladder one handed, the other arm doing its best to hold the box. She lost her footing on the last step and slid down, struggling to keep her grip on the box.

She jumped slightly when strong arms wrapped around her waist, steadying her and a soft voice spoke from behind her.

"You need to be careful, what are you doing hauling that guaiwu down here anyway?"

She froze at the sound of Mal's voice and the feel of his hands on her waist, her body reacting after being denied for so long.

"It's for you," she spoke, her voice breathy. "A gift."

"A gift?" Mal helped her the rest of the way down the steps and took the white box from her, carrying it over to the small desk and laying it down. "There was no need for that," he spoke softly, the surprise evident in his voice.

"I know," she said, pushing the hatch closed and following him, only to stop in the middle of the small room. "It's just something I wanted you to have."

Mal traced a large hand across the top of the box as he stared down at it. "What is it?"

Josephine smiled from behind him before answering. "Open it and see."

It wasn't wrapped, and he had no problem sliding the top off of the box, but it's contents were still hidden by a soft white paper. He peeled back the layers of tissue paper protecting the box's contents and stared down in surprise. His gaze flickered from the item in the box to Jo's face in shock and Josephine's smile widened at his reaction.

Mal reached down with both hands and pulled the leather brown overcoat out of it's box, turning in the process, and holding it in front of him.

"How... where... how...," Mal stuttered and Josephine laughed softly as she walked over to him.

"Try it on, I wasn't sure it would fit." She helped him slide his arms into the sleeves and smoothed the leather down his back before stepping back in front of him to see how it looked.

It wasn't an exact replica of the one she had ruined so many months ago. It was slightly shorter, resting mid thigh, a darker brown, and obviously less battle worn than the other, but it seemed to fit nicely.

Josephine watched as Mal traced his hands absently over the material and she began to speak rapidly.

"I know it can't replace the other one... it has no history with you. But it is a genuine antique, worn by someone in the resistance."

"How did you find this?"

"Inara... she helped me find it at an estate sale."

Mal looked up at her finally, his hands falling to his sides. "It's... I...," he trailed off, instead putting into his eyes everything he couldn't bring himself to say.

Josephine smiled again and met his gaze. "I'll try not to get blood on this one."

Mal smirked and walked the short distance to her, wrapping his leather clad arms around her waist and pushing his mouth against her ear.

"Don't go makin' promises you know you can't keep," he spoke softly, his breath tickling the sensitive flesh of her ear and making her squirm slightly. His mouth closed over hers and any thoughts of what she had come there to tell him fell away, replaced by a desire that had gone denied for far too long.

His kisses were slow and deliberate at first; a small nip at her bottom lip, quick pecks at the corner of her mouth, but soon they became more heated. She parted her lips hungrily and fisted one hand in the short wispy hairs at the top of his neck, tilting her head for better access. Josephine shivered when she felt Mal's tongue slide into her mouth and she pressed herself against him, suddenly wishing there weren't so many layers of clothes between them.

As if reading her thoughts, he released her waist and began shrugging the new coat off his shoulders. Josephine took his lead and pushed it off his back. He stepped back and pulled the coat completely off, laying it over the back of his desk chair before turning back. He reached out to pull her to him again, but she batted his hands away gently and put her own hands on his chest to undo the buttons of his shirt. She worked them quickly and pulled the fabric aside. An almost physical shock went through her as she laid her palms against the warm planes of his chest, finally connecting with the flesh.

He crushed her to him, trapping her arms between them and devoured her mouth with a new found fervor that she eagerly returned. In one swift motion, Mal lifted her off her feet and walked them the short distance to the bed, laying her down quickly. He went to his knees beside her, never breaking the kiss, and slid one hand to her stomach, still covered with the fabric of her dress. Mal skimmed his fingers across her stomach before raising his hand and cupping her breast through the dress. He moved his mouth to her neck, sucking and biting gently.

Josephine moaned but still she wanted more. She sat up halfway, her hands going behind her to undo the fastening of her dress. When she had it freed, she pulled her arms free of the sleeves and slid the top half to her waist, crying out when Mal's mouth closed over the soft flesh of her right breast.

She shivered again when she felt Mal's hand on her leg, slowly pushing the skirt portion of her dress up her legs. He paused a moment, fingering the brand on the inside of her thigh. He continued until the dress became little more than a belt around her small waist and ran his hand back down, over her undergarment, in teasing circles. Finally, Mal palmed his large hand over her most sensitive region and pulled his mouth away from her nipple in surprise.

"What's wrong?"

Mal stared down at her a moment before answering. "You're so wet," he spoke softly, his voice husky and low.

Josephine stared back at him through half-lidded eyes. "For you... only for you."

Returning to her mouth, Mal kissed her deeply, slipping his hand beneath that final layer of clothing as he did. Wetting his hand with her juices, Mal slid his fingers up to her center, rubbing it gently.

Josephine cried out in frustration and broke the kiss, giving Mal pause. He ceased his ministrations and stared down at her in surprise.

"We've plenty of time for that Mal. Right now, all I want is for you to be inside of me."

Mal's eyes rolled back into his head slightly at her words and the need in her voice. He violently tugged at her undergarments, ripping them in the process, until they slid down her legs and over her feet. He tossed them on the floor and pushed himself off of her. Josephine put her hands at his waist, fighting with his belt for a moment, before pushing the fabric of his pants over his hips and down his legs, to pool around his ankles.

She grasped his freed erection, making Mal shudder as he kneeled between her legs, and pulled slightly, leading him to her entrance. Her hand fell away as she felt the edge of his member nudge her folds and she let her head fall back to the thin mattress.

Mal hesitated and glanced up at her. Never before had he wanted to drive himself into someone with such reckless abandon, but he had no desire to harm or frighten her either. Josephine noticed his hesitation and pushed herself up until she was resting on her elbows and could see clearly into his eyes.

"You won't hurt me qing ren. Give me what I need... what we both need," she pleaded.

Mal closed his eyes for a moment, fighting with his desire to lose control, before finally giving in. He used both hands to grab beneath her knees and pull her to the edge of the bed, impaling her on him in the process.

Josephine cried out in surprise at the suddenness of it, but was soon crying out for a completely different reason. Mal left her legs bent, forcing them higher and higher until she could place both her ankles on his shoulders and he moved his hands from the soft side of her knees to her waist, to keep her from sliding away from him with every thrust.

Josephine had never felt anything like it before, the angle of her legs making it impossibly delicious every time Mal pounded into her. He seemed to be reaching places inside of her that were never meant to be touched. Each time he pushed himself into her completely, only to pull out almost entirely, and push himself back again. Josephine's breaths came in short gasps and she thought she heard a low keening moan every few seconds and wondered where it could be coming from, before realizing it was her who was making those sounds.

Mal's own breaths came out in quick grunts every time he thrust himself into her and he knew he couldn't keep up this pace much longer. He almost exploded every time he looked down at her flushed face, her breasts bouncing with each of his strong lunges.

Josephine began to feel the familiar sensation radiating from her core, and knew she was close. As though she were a cup that had simply gotten too full and was threatening to burst over the edge. She clenched her muscles involuntarily in an attempt to keep from overflowing and Mal moaned in pleasure and, impossibly, began to push harder. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer and wanted to make sure she fell over the edge with him. Moving one hand from Josephine's waist, he ran his thumb over her clit repeatedly and she began to tremble beneath him.

Jo felt the pressure explode from within her and cried out, her upper body raising a few inches off the mattress as she shook, wave after wave of pleasure coursing through her. Mal pulled himself back and thrust one final time, calling out her name as his seed shot into her tight passage. He stayed inside of her, body shaking, as he rode out the orgasm.

Josephine's ankles slipped from his shoulders and fell to the mattress as Mal finally pulled himself out of her. He paused to kick his pants off of his ankles and laid on his stomach next to her, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

She could feel his ragged breathing tickling her neck as the last vestiges of pleasure subsided and were replaced with a warm tingling sensation. He tried to speak, but the words were muffled into her skin.

"What was that?" She asked quietly, still on her back unable to move.

Mal pulled his head back so she could hear him clearly. "I may be getting too old for that sort of thing."

Josephine smiled. "Nonsense." She turned onto her side slowly so she could see his face, wincing in the process.

Mal's brow furrowed in concern as he looked at her. "Did I hurt you?"

Josephine paused to chose her words carefully, not wishing to worry him, but actually surprised at the ache she felt in that region. "No... well, only in a good way." He didn't look as though he believed her, and she frowned when she saw shame creep into his eyes.

She scooted closer to him, until her body was pressed into his side and their faces were practically touching. "Mal, I'm fine, honestly. It was wonderful, it was exactly what I wanted. I'll just be a little sore tomorrow is all." She placed a hand on his back, running her fingers up and down over his skin as the sweat began to cool.

She had to admit she was surprised herself at how much she'd enjoyed him being so rough with her. It seemed that although Bryce Rawley was well and truly dead, some things still lingered. She couldn't even begin to understand it, not sure if even a therapist from the core could, so she pushed it to the back of her mind. There were more important things to discuss.

"Mal," she began quietly, "I need to tell you something."

He turned onto his side so he could face her and she stared into his eyes for a moment, unsure how to proceed.

"Mal, I... love you."

He smiled. "I love you too." He moved his head forward, searching for her lips, but she put her hands on his chest, stopping him.

"Wait, there's more," she swallowed, forcing herself to continue speaking. "Mal... I'm pregnant."

Mal froze and blinked at her a few times before speaking. "What?... How?... Just now?... How?"

Josephine sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "Malcolm Reynolds... I know your mama told you where babies come from," she paused, reopening her eyes. "And no... not 'just now'."

He opened his mouth to speak but she put a hand to his lips, silencing him. "No... let me get this out."

Mal looked as though he wanted to argue but let his mouth fall closed as Jo continued.

"I've been pregnant for over three months, but I only found out about a week ago, or I would have told you sooner. I know I should have just waved you and let you come and get me but I was scared... I'm still scared. I don't know why I didn't except maybe I didn't want to face you, I was trying to delay it."

Mal opened his mouth to speak again but she shook her head and continued.

"No, there's still more. Three months Mal. Three months ago was when Rawley found me, and... and... there's a chance the baby could be his." Her bottom lip wobbled as she finished and she couldn't help the tears that crept from her eyes as she waited for him to speak.

"So you came back," he began slowly after a few seconds, "to get a paternity test..."

"No," she interrupted, "I came back because I love you... that's just something that needs to be done."

Mal rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling above him, making Josephine's tears flow harder. He stayed silent for a long moment and Josephine reached out to touch him, letting her hand drop half way.

"Mal, please... I'm so sorry. Talk to me please, what are you thinking," she spoke urgently, openly crying now.

He continued staring at the ceiling in quiet shock before speaking finally. "I'm thinking... I'm going to be a father," he spoke softly, his voice slightly numb.

"But what if you aren't that father?"

"I am... I have to be... the 'verse can't be that cruel."

"It can..." she whispered, more to herself than to him.

Mal jumped up suddenly, startling Josephine. His feet landed on the floor and got tangled in the pants he had thrown there. Jo went to her knees in worry as he slipped and fell to the floor loudly. The whole situation might have been funny, under more pleasant circumstances.

"Chu xu sheng!" Mal cursed as he hit the floor.

"Are you alright... what are you doing?"

Mal got to his feet, grumbling, and pulled his pants up around his waist, buckling them as he did. "I'm going to get Simon."

Josephine's mouth fell open in surprise. "Mal, Simon's asleep... I haven't told anyone else. It can wait till morning. Just please... come back to bed," she pleaded.

Mal turned to her, seeing her clearly for the first time since she had begun her confession. There she sat, naked on his bed except for the dress-belt, every scar visible to the naked eye and tear tracks smudged along her cheeks. He could see now that she'd gained weight, a slight bulge to her stomach, and didn't know how he could have missed it before.

He knelt back on the bed and took her in his arms, crushing her against his chest. He pulled her down until they were laying, her head on his chest, and used one hand to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"I'm sorry... I don't know what I was thinking. Just tell me what you want me to do..."

"Just hold me," she whispered against him. "Hold me and make me forget..."

Mal tightened his arms around her as she drifted off to sleep, a million different thoughts still racing through his mind, but only one main concern for the time being; the tired young woman in his arms.


	6. Chapter 6

Josephine was drawn awake as the harsh artificial light of Mal's bunk raised, indicating morning. She blinked a few times, trying to chase away the last vestiges of sleep before reluctantly turning on her side in search of Mal.

But he was no longer in the room. She peered over the edge of the small bed to see that his clothes had been picked up from the floor and hastened to get up. Jo winced as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and paused, mentally willing the tightness in her muscles to go away. She looked down at her pelvis, the dress still wrapped around her waist like a belt, and wasn't surprised to see the light tracing of bruises on her skin. She blushed slightly as she remembered the night before and how rough she had allowed it to get; how rough she had wanted it to get. The sex had been... well it had been wonderful, she admitted to herself despite feeling somewhat ashamed. Rawley had taken her that roughly many times and she suddenly wondered if she had ever enjoyed her time spent with him. A part of her mind refused to believe it while another part told her to stop lying to herself.

She jumped to her feet, ignoring the ache in her muscles, and repositioned the dress before searching for her discarded undergarments. She found them in a corner of the room, too badly torn to be worn again, and tossed them into Mal's waste basket.

Josephine stared at herself in Mal's small mirror for a moment, her mind straying to Bryce Rawley again. There was a term... something she had learned in school, in her course on the psychology of Earth-that-was. Stockholm syndrome... that was it.

Do I have that, she thought. In some sick, twisted way... perhaps only in the bedroom?

She furrowed her brow in thought as she leaned closer to the mirror. She had been encouraging Mal in that direction she admitted to herself reluctantly.

Sighing, she pulled herself away from her reflection and walked the short distance to the ladder, filing those thoughts away for later. She climbed the ladder and stood in the dimly lit hallway, silently debating between getting cleaned up or going in search of Mal. After a short moment, she opted for the latter of the two and headed towards the kitchen.

Josephine entered the large room, half expecting to see Mal sitting at the wood table, drinking his morning coffee, but it was empty. It appeared as though no one had been in for breakfast yet and Jo continued on to the bridge.

She found him sitting in the pilot's seat, arms resting loosely on the sides of the chair, eyes staring out into the never ending blackness. Jo approached him cautiously, unaware of his current temperament and not wishing to disturb him.

Mal didn't turn his head as she stepped up beside him and Josephine placed a hand on his shoulder lightly.

"Mal?"

"Hmmm?"

"What are you doing?"

"Thinkin'..."

She thought she knew what he must be thinking about and didn't bother to ask as her hand fell from his shoulder. She walked forward towards the thick glass that was protecting them from space and stared in wonder. Josephine knew she would never get tired of this. Staring into the dense blackness always managed to amaze her and yet at the same time made her feel very small and unimportant. After all, in a world this big her problems seemed nothing if not trifling.

"You're not going to ask me what I'm thinkin' about?"

Mal's voice startled her somewhat and she turned around to face him, still seated but now looking at her.

"I can guess."

Mal nodded. "I doubt it... what's the story with this kid I picked up?"

Josephine blinked in surprise. Wen had been the farthest thing from her mind and she thought he must be from Mal's as well. She stared at him for a moment, trying to remember after all that had happened, before answering.

"He was a passenger on the Finder... that's the ship Inara put Mira and I on..."

Mal nodded quickly, indicating that he already knew that and for her to continue.

"Well, he said he was going to meet his mother some where... I can't remember exactly. But then we were boarded by slavers..."

"Yeah, we met," Mal grimaced.

"... and it turned out they were looking for Wen. He was the bosses son."

"So..." Mal paused, trying to choose his words carefully. "The kid was trying to get away from it, he was a runaway?"

Josephine nodded and started walking back to him. "Exactly. For all I know, he really was trying to find his mother." She stopped in front of him and looked down.

"Lets see if I'm understanding then..." Mal began. "So all of this trouble... was because of this kid?"

"You could say that I guess..." Josephine trailed off as Mal continued to stare at her. In a way, all the trouble was because of Wen. But if she'd never gotten on the Finder, they wouldn't be a part of it. She flinched under his gaze and dropped her eyes to the ground.

"Why didn't you let us come and get you... let me come and get you?"

She answered him softly, eyes still staring at her feet. "I'm not sure. At the time I had reasons... I thought they were good reasons but... I don't know."

Mal leaned forward and took her smaller hands in his own large ones, forcing her to look at him. "Forget I asked. It's not important... you're where you belong now."

The corners of her mouth turned up into a small smile as she stared down at him. "I like that..."

Mal tugged on her hands, slightly pulling her closer. "What do you like?"

"The idea that you're where I belong."

He leaned forward and met her lips halfway in a lingering kiss. Mal pulled away first and sat back tugging on her hands again until she crawled into his lap and rested her head against his chest. His arms went around her automatically and she let her feet dangle over the side of the chair.

After a short moment she spoke. "Have you spoken to Simon?"

"No, I don't think he's up yet... Do you want me to go wake him?"

"Not yet... I'd like to get cleaned up first... and then we can both find him, finally get this sorted out." She paused and pulled her head back so she could see his face. "Lets not tell anyone else, alright?"

Mal placed his hand on her stomach and smiled slightly. "They'll figure it out eventually... see, this gets bigger."

Josephine obliged him with a small laugh and swatted his shoulder. "I know that... I just mean, not yet. Not until we know... everything."

He stared at her for a moment before nodding in agreement. Josephine sighed and rested her head against his chest again, doing her best to savor the here and now, not knowing how many more moments like this there would be, after Simon's tests.

* * *

She left Mal on the bridge after a short while and went back to her room to bathe and change her clothes. After peeking in on Mira, who appeared to still be sleeping, she went in search of Serenity's captain once again. Jo tried his bunk first, then the kitchen and bridge, but he wasn't there. Assuming he was waiting for her in the infirmary, she hastened back to the corridor, only to collide with Zoe as she entered the kitchen. 

"Umph... sorry Zoe," Jo apologized as she tried to keep her balance.

"Josephine," Zoe acknowledged her with a curt nod and stepped around the smaller woman, shooting her a somewhat reproachful glance in the process.

Jo gaped at Zoe's greeting in surprise. The first mate was often terse, but never flat out rude and Josephine couldn't think of a single thing she had done to agitate her. Bewildered, she turned back around, only to come face to face with a red-faced Wen.

He was breathing heavily, as though he had been struggling to keep up with someone, and nodded at her, much the same way Zoe had done. Josephine's gaze followed him as he entered the kitchen and cautiously approached Zoe. She watched, open mouthed, for a few moments as Wen proceeded to follow the older woman around. When Zoe rose to go the counter, Wen followed, always staying a few feet back and never speaking. When she sat, so did he. Josephine almost smiled at the look of adoration on Wen's face and shook her head absently.

Jo continued to watch as Zoe's features darkened and she seemed ready to tell the young man off but never did. She cleared her throat quietly, making them both look up from their plates.

"Zoe, have you seen Mal?"

"Cargo bay," she answered briefly.

Jo nodded and left the kitchen, the smile she'd been holding in finally reaching her face. It seemed Wen

had decided to look towards Zoe as his savior and she just hoped his puppy love didn't get too far out of hand.

Once she was a little ways into the corridor, Josephine raised her eyes upwards in a mock prayer for Zoe, and nearly jumped out of her skin at what she saw.

River smiled back at her. The young woman had wedged herself into the small space, legs practically spread eagled and bare feet pressed against the sides of the wall.

"Wode ma, River! What are you doing?"

"Shhh...," River whispered. "Spying... can't see me."

"Spying on who?"

River's smile grew wider as she answered. "The boy... he's new... interesting."

Josephine sighed. "Why not just go talk to him?"

The younger woman shook her head and Jo thought she heard her tsk-tsking. "Haven't gathered enough information. You must know your prey before the hunt begins."

"Prey? Hunt? River, what are you talking about?" Josephine held up her hands to stop River from answering. "Never mind... as long as you're not going to actually hurt him I don't want to know."

The smile fell from River's face and was replaced with a look of pure condescension. "There are many different types of hunts."

"You know, I'm sure there are and it's been lots of fun chatting with you, but I have to go now." Josephine continued down the corridor but came to a halt at River's next words.

"Yes, to see Simon... to get answers. But he doesn't have them, at least not here."

Jo turned back around and tilted her head up to see River. "What do you mean?"

The young woman just smiled at her and Jo repeated her question.

"River, what do you mean?" River just ignored her again and began to climb down from her perch.

Josephine gave an exasperated sigh. "Why are you so gorram infuriating all the time! You have this amazing... gift. Can't you just give me a straight answer?"

The young psychic smiled at her again, a strange sort of calmness settling over her. "Where would the fun be in that?"

River turned and walked into the kitchen, leaving Josephine to scrape her jaw off the floor of the corridor. She stared after her in surprise for a few moments before shaking her head and turning sharply on her heels.

No one seemed to puzzle her more than Serenity's young pilot. Most of the time her words made absolutely no sense to Josephine... that is until they came true. But sometimes River would say something so telling, so coherent, that she couldn't help but wonder how much of it was actually real and how much of it was just River trying to have fun.

Her footsteps clanged as she started descending the stairs into the cavernous cargo bay, distracting her from her thoughts for a moment. She paused halfway down, eyes searching the large area for Mal, but she didn't see him. She continued down in confusion and turned left once the stairs ended, hurrying towards the infirmary.

"Jo!"

She turned around in time to see Kaylee bouncing towards her, a sweet smile on her grease smudged face.

Josephine couldn't help but return her infectious smile as the mechanic approached her.

"I was just about to get some breakfast," Kaylee spoke quickly. "Want to come?"

Jo's smile faltered as she wondered how to answer, finally opting for the truth. "Um... actually I was on my way to see Simon..."

The smile fell from Kaylee's face as it darkened with worry and she spoke quickly. "Is everything alright? Have you been hurt? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing really... no need for anyone to worry. I just need to see him."

"Oh... ok." Kaylee looked as though she didn't believe her but her face brightened once again. "Well I'll go with you. I never get tired of seeing Simon."

"That isn't necessary," Josephine spoke softly, silently debating ways to get the young woman to leave without being rude.

"Don't be silly." Kaylee stepped beside her and linked their arms together, forcing Jo in the direction of the infirmary.

Jo allowed herself to be led for a few seconds before pulling her arm away from Kaylee. "Really, I don't need an escort... it's private."

Josephine watched as the hurt and confusion crept through Kaylee's features, and silently admonished herself.

"Kaylee... I'm sorry, it's really not that serious," she lied. "I promise I'll tell you everything when I can, alright?"

Kaylee frowned at her for a long moment before nodding, once again giving the impression that she didn't really believe Josephine. "I guess."

"Good, I'll see you later." Josephine turned and walked quickly towards the infirmary. The blinds were open and she could see Mal and Simon standing amongst the stark whiteness.

Mal glanced up as she approached and slid the doors open for her, shutting them softly once she was inside. Simon stood near the examination table, looking thoroughly confused and a little worried, making Jo think Mal hadn't told him anything yet.

The doctor's head moved back and forth between the two of them for a moment. "Is someone going to tell me what's going on now?"

Josephine opened her mouth to speak but Mal stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Wait," he spoke softly and pointed towards the glass with his other hand.

Jo followed his arm with her eyes until she caught a glimpse of Kaylee through the opened blinds. "She followed me... she's worried."

Mal moved towards the windows and began closing the blinds. Jo saw Kaylee's eyes widen briefly in the distance before the young mechanic was obscured by the white blinds and she and Mal both turned back to Simon.

The Doctor looked even more confused than before, and this time, just a little angry. "What's so important that Kaylee can't know what's going on?"

Sighing deeply, Josephine opened her mouth to speak. "Everyone's going to know eventually Simon. There's just a few things I want figured out myself first."

"I'm listening," Simon spoke quickly, crossing his arms over his chest in the process.

Josephine took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm pregnant."

Simon's blinked at them both for a long moment, the surprise evident on his face, and Jo could almost see the wheels turning inside his head.

After a few minutes of his silence, Josephine spoke. "Gorramit Simon, say something."

"Well," he began slowly, "I guess I should be congratulating you both right now, but all the secrecy makes me think you wouldn't welcome it. Do you know how far along you are?"

"A little more than three months," Josephine spoke quickly, chancing a glance at Mal who's guarded eyes were fixed on Simon.

"Alright... so why all the secrecy? Is it that you don't want it? Because I'll tell you right now, I don't..."

"We need you to figure out who the father is," Mal said loudly, interrupting the Doctor's short tirade.

Simon's eyes widened as his gaze shifted between the two of them. "But I thought... you two... Kaylee said so..."

Josephine fought with the urge to roll her eyes at the man who was usually so much more intelligent than this. "Kaylee was right... but think back Simon. Three months ago Rawley found me again and he... did things... you should know, you doctored most of them. But you couldn't doctor this."

"Chu xu sheng," Simon cursed softly and lowered his eyes to the floor in thought for a long moment. Josephine almost prompted him to speak, but there was no need. All at once the Doctor seemed to spring into action, hurrying around the small room as he spoke.

"Right, I can take a sample of Mal's blood and a sample from the... fetus... but I won't be able to do the actual testing here, I don't have the equipment."

Simon appeared back in front of them, his gloved hands now holding a tray with medical equipment on it. Josephine's eyes roamed over the tray's test tubes, cotton swabs and syringes. Her eyes falling onto a large, thick syringe that looked more like a metal rod than an actual needle.

"Wait, what do you mean you can't do the tests?" Mal's voice distracted her from the frightening instrument on the tray.

"River said so already..." she spoke softly.

Mal turned surprised eyes towards Josephine. "You told River?"

Jo frowned at him. "Of course not. You don't have to tell River anything, but somehow she always knows."

Mal smiled slightly and turned back to Simon. "You can't do the tests here?"

"No... like I said I don't have the right equipment."

"So where do we go for the right equipment?"

"Well," Simon paused in thought for a short moment, "really, anywhere with a hospital should have what I need."

Josephine turned back to Mal. "Where can we go?"

"We'll figure it out," he answered softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. Jo's hand covered his own as they stared at each other quietly.

Simon cleared his throat to get their attention again and he raised the tray a little higher. "But we can do this now, and keep them cool."

Mal blinked at Simon a moment before nodding. He moved over to the table and sat, rolling his sleeve up as he did. Josephine watched as Simon pierced Mal's flesh with one of the normal looking needles and it quickly filled with thick red blood. She knew for certain then that the large scary syringe was meant for her and she couldn't take her eyes from it.

"Josephine?"

She glanced up quickly at the sound of Simon's voice to see that he was finished with Mal and was motioning for her to lay on the table. She sat slowly and Mal helped her move back until she was laying flat. Simon appeared above her suddenly, clutching the large syringe in his hands.

"This is going to hurt a little," he said as he glanced down at her somewhat embarrassedly.

"What are you going to do?"

"In laymen's terms?" Josephine nodded. "I jab you in the stomach with this, it goes through your skin, penetrates the placenta and takes the information we need from the... fetus."

Josephine frowned up at him. "Why do you keep saying it like that?"

"I don't know what you mean..."

"You hesitate right before you say fetus."

Simon smiled down at her sadly. "Standard medical training... I keep wanting to say 'baby' but we aren't supposed to. Some patients find that too personal, especially if they aren't..."

"Alright, I get it... just do it."

Mal took one of her hands as Simon lifted the end of her shirt up until her stomach was bare.

"Try not to tense up," Simon advised, "or it will hurt a lot more and the bruising will be worse..."

"Bruising? You didn't say anything about..." She stopped speaking as all the air left her lungs and she felt as though she had been punched in the gut. Her grip on Mal's hand tightened and she looked down at her stomach in time to see Simon remove the syringe.

Mal helped her sit up again while Simon put his samples away, kissed her on the forehead, and departed, mumbling about work to be done.

When Simon was finished he turned back to Jo. "Well..."

Josephine lowered her shirt, knowing she would have a bruise there tomorrow, and jumped down from the table. "Well what?"

"All we need now is a hospital with the right equipment and we can run the test."

"Alright, xie xie ni Simon," Josephine spoke softly on her way to the doors.

"Just doing my job," the Doctor smiled. "Josephine?"

She stopped just inside the doors and turned back to him. "Yes?"

Simon stared at her a moment, looking decidedly uncomfortable, before speaking. "What are you going to do... if it's not Mal's?"

She returned his gaze and tried to think of an answer, any answer, to appease him. But all she could come up with was the truth.

"I don't know."


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note:

Hey Everyone! It seems forever since I last updated and I just wanted to apologize for the delay and thank everyone who has stuck with the original story and this sequel... It means the world to me!

* * *

There was nothing as black as open space, she had decided. Even it's billions of glittering stars, blinking lazily from their resting places could do nothing to tame the very blackness that was space.

Josephine blinked slowly, mirroring the flaming balls of gas in the distance, and turned to face Serenity's bridge and the young pilot sitting at it's controls. For a few moments the blackness seemed to have seeped into her irises, and she had to blink again, clearing her vision.

"How long, would you say?"

"Not very, a few hours," was River's clipped reply.

Josephine reluctantly turned back to the blackness, her right hand coming up to rest on her stomach as she did. She still thought this plan was insane, partly because of where it was taking them and mostly because it's very fruition depended almost entirely on her.

She sighed deeply, remembering the purposeful way Mal and Simon had approached her yesterday morning.

She had awoken early, feeling slightly nauseous, and had crept out of Mal's small bed without waking him. Jo made her way to the ship's kitchen slowly, hoping to find some of Inara's old herbal tea packets stashed in one of the cupboards. After an hour long search of ever nook and cranny in the kitchen, Josephine settled for coffee instead.

She was just taking her first sip at the counter when Mal entered, followed closely by Simon. They wore identical grim expressions on their faces, as though they'd both come to the same decision, though neither of them seemed too happy about it.

They stopped halfway and stared at her, the mug still raised to her lips, before sitting at the table. Mal made no indication, but she got the immediate sensation that they were waiting for her to join them, so she took her mug and sat across from Mal hesitantly. He raised his dark eyes to her questioning ones and spoke softly.

"Persephone..." He let the word hang in the air and Josephine blinked in confusion.

"Yes," she began, "what about it?"

"They have a hospital there..." Mal continued slowly.

"A big hospital," Simon added quickly, "with everything I would need."

Josephine's mouth dropped open slightly as she began to comprehend what they were suggesting.

"Is this a joke or have you both gone mad?" She stared at each one in turn, waiting for an explanation.

The Doctor turned to Mal, but the Captain seemed either unable or unwilling to share his reasoning and continued to stare at Josephine. Simon turned back to the young woman seated across from him and cleared his throat.

"Look at it this way... what is our biggest concern in finding a hospital?"

Jo shook her head, not understanding.

"Questions," Simon continued, "forms... bureaucratic paperwork really. We don't want to be recognized..."

"But that may be impossible," Mal interrupted, "at least for you, Simon and River."

Josephine drew her bottom lip between her teeth in consternation. "Me? Why would I be recognized?"

"You had a warrant out for your arrest plastered all over the cortex," Mal answered, managing to sound only slightly exasperated.

"So, Inara said that had been taken care of," Josephine spoke, her voice rising slightly. "And those slavers didn't seem to know who I was."

"Those slavers," Mal responded, "weren't exactly interested in who you were and they sure as diyu weren't asking for identification."

Jo opened her mouth to protest but Mal continued.

"And the Guild may have taken care of the warrant, but it doesn't change the fact that hundreds of thousands of people probably saw it."

"But..."

"And," Simon began, "We already know we can't go to some backwater clinic on some desolate planet where we won't be recognized because they won't have what I need." Simon paused, losing momentum, and glanced at Mal.

"So," Mal spoke, taking his cue from the Doctor, "we go somewhere that you'll definitely be recognized but where we might be able to throw some weight around because of it."

"What do you mean?" Josephine asked.

"You told me once you were Rawley's public wife... and he was a very wealthy man with a lot of influence on Persephone."

Josephine stared at them both in surprise for a moment. "Mal... Bryce is dead!"

"But your not..."

"Zhe shi feng kuang de, wobu neng gou xiang xin ni shier!" Jo spoke in a huff. "Rawley hadn't been on Persephone for months before he died, I don't even know if the people there know he's dead..."

"Even better," Mal interrupted, "we can use that to our advantage."

Josephine stared down at the now cool mug of coffee still held in her hands. She set it gently on the wooden table and stared into the cup, the coffee's blackness reminding her of the view from the bridge. She could hear both Mal and Simon's breathing as they waited for her to make a decision.

"Really, unless you have a better idea," Simon began, breaking the silence.

"Inara!" Josephine interrupted loudly, startling them both.

"What about her?" Mal asked after a moment.

"The Training House," Jo went on excitedly, "they can get their hands on anything!"

Mal frowned at her sadly. "We'd already thought of that. I talked to Inara last night... apparently there's some sort of Alliance celebration going on there and she doesn't know when it's going to end. She doesn't think it would be safe for me to land there."

Josephine's enthusiasm seemed to deflate all at once. She pushed the now cold coffee as far away as her hands would allow and slumped forward slightly.

"Fine," she spoke in quiet defeat, "tell me the plan."

Mal watched her give in with sadness in his eyes. "We land on Persephone. River stays on Serenity with Kaylee, Mira, and Wen... ready to get us off the planet if anything goes wrong. Me and Zoe and Jayne pretend to be some of Rawley's bodyguards... cause we know he had those..."

"Wait a minute," Josephine spoke quickly, "If the others are in on this they're going to have to know..."

"Tian xin," Mal spoke softly, "They're going to find out eventually and were going to need them on this."

Josephine gritted her teeth. "Alright... go on."

"Well, Simon goes in as your personal physician. Then you talk our way into the hospital."

"Talk?" She asked curiuosly.

Mal smiled slightly. "Talk... bully... what's the difference really? It's got to be a whole lot gorram easier than the last time we broke into a hospital."

Josephine arched her eyebrows at his optimism. "And what if I can't do that... can't pretend to be something I'm not?"

Mal smiled again, wider this time. "I think you can. All you have to do is pretend to be spoiled and used to getting your own way. You can do that right?" he teased.

Josephine gave him a sardonic half-smile worthy of River and cast her eyes back down to the table. They only remained there for a short moment however, as another thought flew into her head.

"Wait a second," she began, "what about Nash? What if he is related to Bryce? He already sent someone to kill me at the Training House and failed, who's to say he won't have someone waiting on Bryce's home planet?"

Mal looked slightly taken aback and Josephine felt a sudden surge of triumph in the fact that she was the first to think of a potential setback. The joy didn't last long, however, and she let her gaze fall to the table again.

Mal glanced at Simon briefly as he stood and moved to the other side of the table. Simon, taking the hint, stood up from his own chair and left the kitchen quietly. Mal placed a hand on Josephine's shoulder and she turned slightly to look up at him.

"I admit, I hadn't thought of that," Mal began slowly. "But I honestly don't think Nash would have anyone there. Given your history on Persephone, he has no reason to believe you'd go back there... I mean, why would you?"

Josephine snorted and brushed Mal's hand from her shoulder. "Why indeed?" She tore her suddenly angry eyes away from his own.

"You know what," Mal spoke softly, his voice suddenly weary, "hey..." he placed his hand under her chin coaxing her to turn back. "Look at me please..." he waited until she complied before continuing. "We don't have to do this... we don't have to know at all."

Josephine blinked slowly, shocked at the enormity of his words, before responding. "I do... or I'll always wonder. I don't think I could live my life, not knowing." She paused, taking a shaky breath. "Alright... I'm in."

Mal leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of her head before moving into the chair next to her, his hand seeking her own. He played with it absently for a moment, tracing his fingers over her palm, as the room descended into silence again.

Josephine shivered as his fingers continued their feather light touch over her hand and looked at the face of the man who had essentially just told her he didn't care if he wasn't the father, he would still treat the child like his own.

She shivered again and Mal raised his eyes to meet hers, a smile playing on his lips.

"I really love you," Josephine spoke, sounding slightly surprised.

Mal's only response was to lean forward and capture her lips in a chaste kiss that held the promise of more.

Josephine spoke again when they parted.

"There is another problem with this plan..."

"What's that?"

"Bryce never let me out by myself. When I was out in public it was always with him. That might damage our charade."

"I still think we could make it work," Mal spoke softly.

She stared into his eyes for a short time before speaking again.

"I don't want to go back there," she whispered.

"I know," Mal responded gently, "but I really think it's our only choice." He closed the distance between them again, before she could protest...

Josephine opened her eyes to find herself once again staring into the vast blackness of space. She shivered involuntarily, remembering the way she and Mal had spent the rest of that morning. She sighed slightly, but turned away from the glass when she heard a slight "tsk"ing noise from behind her. River was still seated at Serenity's controls and the look she was giving Josephine made the older woman's cheeks flush with color.

"Tsk tsk," River repeated. "That all can't be good for the baby."

Josephine's cheeks flushed more red, if that was possible, but she nonetheless laughed at the young psychic's comment.

"Have you ever thought about having children River?" she asked teasingly.

River hesitated, seemingly giving serious thought to Josephine's question.

"Babies are an enigma," she answered finally. "They're like sticks of dynamite you can hold in your hand with the fuse lit..."

"What do you mean?" Josephine asked out of instinct though readily dreading her response.

"It is their very nature to explode."

Josephine was still perplexed as to whether she meant literally or figuratively when Mal poked his head into the bridge, eyes searching for Josephine.

"Hey," he called loudly, his gaze finally falling on Josephine, framed in the black window. You ready?"

Her face fell slightly, understanding immediately that Mal's "ready" meant "ready to face them." She had asked him to tell the others of their dilemma, afraid to be in the same room as the pity filled their eyes. She nodded wordlessly and joined Mal in the corridor.

The Captain paused to address River. "You all good Albatross?"

River's "right as rain" response followed them into the hallway.

Josephine let Mal take her hand and lead her down the corridor and into the kitchen. The rest of Serenity's crew were seated around the table, their heads turning towards Mal and Jo as they entered. The only ones absent seemed to be River, who they left on the bridge, and Mira and Wen whom she assumed were in their respective guest rooms.

Josephine took a seat between Mal and Simon, studiously avoiding eye contact with the others, until Mal cleared his throat and began to tell them the rest of the plan. She ventured a glance up then, knowing their full attention would be on the Captain. Zoe's expression was all business, her gaze never leaving Mal's face. Jo shifted her attention to Jayne, who's attention was also on Mal, though the mercenaries expression was slightly bewildered and his eyes seemed to bulge the tiniest bit out of his head.

Jo turned her head slightly to where Kaylee sat quietly next to Jayne. Hers was the reaction Josephine feared the most. She expected to see anger in her eyes... anger that she didn't tell her earlier, that she couldn't bring herself to confide in the young mechanic... but all she glimpsed was sadness and worry. Kaylee blinked suddenly, her gaze shifting from Mal to Josephine, and they stared at each other. After a short moment, a small, reassuring smile appeared on Kaylee's face and Josephine felt relief for the first time in days.

"So that's the gist of it really," Mal finished recounting the plan he and Simon had suggested the day before. "Any questions?"

Kaylee tore her gaze from Jo and focused on the Captain again as the room grew silently.

"No? Should be there soon, everyone knows what their doing?" Mal asked.

Serenity's crew nodded as the kitchen fell awkwardly silent again and Jayne allowed his dumbstruck gaze to fall on Josephine for the first time. After a few minutes of staring he spoke.

"A baby..." Jayne said gruffly in a dazed tone and Jo let her forehead hit the table with a small thump.

"You know," he spoke again, this time louder, "I've got this theory that babies are like dynamite..."

"Jayne please, I beg you," Josephine spoke with her head still against the table, voice slightly muffled, "don't finish that sentence."


	8. Chapter 8

Josephine stared at herself in the mirror, silently wondering if Inara had a touch of the "sight." After all, she had vehemently insisted that Jo take the dress she now wore, as though the Companion had been counting on them performing this particular subterfuge.

To call the gown red would have been an insult. It was too dark, too magnificent, to be given any description of color. This was especially true because, with every one of Josephine's movements, the fabric of the dress shimmered and appeared to become a different shade of red, as though it were the metallic carapace of some small insect.

The pest comparison ended there however. It's fabric was so silky smooth, so cool to the touch, that Josephine wouldn't be surprised if at some point during their little adventure, she forgot she was wearing anything at all.

The dress was form fitting without the discomfort of actually being tight and gathered slightly at the side of her waist. It's decolletage was a wide v-shape that dipped just below what was considered proper but managed to conceal everything with a fine smattering of lace. A long sleeved bolero style jacket, with a high stiff collar that sat close to Josephine's neck but magically managed to stay out of her way, completed the ensemble.

She sighed and finished pinning up her hair before turning to face Mira and Kaylee who sat quietly on the bed in Inara's old shuttle.

"Kaylee, you're sure you don't mind keeping an eye on Mira for awhile right?" Jo asked the young mechanic again, but received no response. Kaylee was staring, open-mouthed, at the dress Josephine wore, much like she had been ever since Jo had removed it from it's box.

"Um... Kaylee?" Josephine prompted.

The young mechanic blinked in surprise and raised her eyes to Jo's face. "Huh? Were you sayin' something?"

Jo smiled. "I was asking if you still don't mind looking out for Mira while we're gone..."

"Oh right," Kaylee spoke quickly, glancing at the scarred girl seated next to her. "Course not, it's no trouble... sorry for the zone out, I just don't think I've ever seen anything so pretty!"

"Tell you what Kaylee," Josephine spoke, turning back to the mirror, "when this is all over, it's yours." Jo grinned at her reflection when she heard the younger woman squeal from behind her.

"Can't give it away if it doesn't stay in one piece..."

Josephine's smile quickly turned to a grimace at River's words, and she turned to see the young pilot framed in the doorway.

"You think we're going to run into trouble River?"

River stared at her nonchalantly for a moment before turning away. "They're waiting for you," she called back over her shoulder.

Jo sighed again and made her way out of the shuttle, followed closely by Mira and Kaylee. They had landed at the Eavesdown docks just before dawn, giving her a little time to prepare before the first rays of light woke up the busy planet. Now that Persephone's many inhabitants had begun their day, Jo and the others could begin theirs. The plan seemed simple enough. They would walk the short distance from the docks to the hospital where Jo, in theory, would get them in. Of course this depended entirely on her ability to appear proud and haughty, and throw a status that didn't really belong to her in the hospital staffs faces.

She had no identification, nothing to prove she was who she said she was, and Mal and the others were counting on her simply being recognized as a prominent member of society.

At least I look the part, Josephine thought as she smoothed down the fabric of her skirt. The small group descended the stairs into Serenity's cargo bay, Jo's slight heels clicking softly against the metal.

River changed direction suddenly, affording Josephine her first glimpse of Mal, Jayne, Simon and Zoe where they stood waiting at the hatch, and she stopped in surprise. The make believe bodyguards were dressed in identical black suits, very similar to the ones Jo remembered Rawley's actual bodyguards wearing. But it was Simon who surprised her the most.

The Doctor had abandoned his usual casual attire of slacks and an untucked button down shirt and had instead opted for a coat and vest combination that screamed of the upbringing she knew he'd had. A white lab coat was slung over his arm, partially obscuring the black medical bag in his hand. At his feet sat what appeared to be a small white box with a shiny silver handle. After a few short moments, Jo realized it must contain the sample of Mal's blood and the amniotic fluid Simon had taken a few days ago.

Josephine shook her head slightly and focused her attention back on Mal and the others.

"Everyone looks... spiffy," she spoke quietly as she walked over to Mal.

The Captain smiled slightly as she approached. "Spiffy huh? Ain't heard that one before." He reached out and fingered the fabric at her collar when she was in front of him. "You look beautiful," he spoke softly.

Josephine made a clucking noise with her tongue. "I'm not supposed to look beautiful. I'm supposed to look like an arrogant, spoiled priss."

"Yeah well, that too," Mal smiled and turned to the others. "Let's get this over with. Zoe?"

The first mate nodded and opened the hatch.

A mechanical whir filled the ship's cargo bay but was soon drowned out by the bustling Eavesdown docks as the door opened completely.

Josephine watched as Simon kissed Kaylee goodbye before picking up the small white box at his feet and following Zoe and Jayne down the ramp.

Mal turned to the four that would stay on Serenity.

"Zoe's got the com if you need anything," Mal paused as Kaylee nodded. "Simon thinks it should take a couple of hours for him to run the tests, but it all depends on our cover and how quick we convince them to let us get where we need to get."

He glanced up at Wen who was standing at the top of the metal stairs, leaning on the railing. "And don't leave the ship or you might get left."

Josephine followed Mal's gaze and knew his comment was only meant for Serenity's new passenger.

Wen smiled slightly down at them and gave Mal a wave of acknowledgment.

"You ready?"

Jo jumped slightly and shifted her gaze from a smiling Wen to a serious, tired looking Mal. She nodded and Mal placed a hand on her right cheek, pulling her to him for a quick kiss.

Josephine let out a huff of air that somewhat resembled a sigh as they parted. "Let's get this over with," she spoke softly, copying Mal's words from earlier.

Kaylee spoke as they began to turn toward the ramp.

"Wait!"

Jo turned around in time to see the young mechanic launch herself towards her and was able to brace herself for the impact as Kaylee threw her arms around her.

"Don't you worry none," Kaylee whispered close to her ear so only she could hear. "Everything's going to be shiny."

"I hope your right."

"I know I'm right."

"Kaylee, we really gotta go so..." Mal trailed off as Kaylee let Josephine go.

They stepped down into the crowded docks to find Zoe, Jayne and Simon waiting for them. Mal used his hand on her arm to lead her a little ahead of the others as they began their trek into the heart of the city.

When Mal let his hand drop Jo glanced quickly back at the others. They had formed a sort of diamond pattern with she and Mal in the front, Zoe and Jayne a little behind them but side by side, flanking them, and Simon, now wearing his white lab coat, bringing up the rear.

Her eyes fell on Mal again but he stared straight ahead, his face hostile and his very presence threatening. As they passed row after row of ships, the docks other inhabitants glanced their way curiously but gave them a wide berth.

Here I am, she thought suddenly, back on one of the only planets I hoped to never return to.

In a way this place had been the start of it all. The beginning of what seemed like a lifetime of pain and anguish.

Persephone.

Queen of the underworld.

An image of her Aunt Caroline suddenly flashed into her head. They were sitting together on Jo's bed in her small room in the farmhouse on Sydney, like they had done so many times since her arrival there.

Every night when it was time for bed, despite the fact that Josephine was practically a teenager and, as she had pointed out many times before, just too old for this sort of thing, Caroline would sit and tell her

stories. Some were made up, some taken from history or fairy tales, but the others reflected the great passion Caroline had expressed for the ancient mythology of Earth-that-was. It was on these nights that Josephine had learned about Zeus and Hera, Apollo and Athena, and many other gods of the Greek pantheon.

Persephone had been one of them. Josephine remembered vividly the night Caroline had told her the passionate story of a young woman stolen away from her mother by the mischievous and cruel Hades and forced to live as his queen in the underworld.

While Persephone was away from Earth the land froze and became a barren waste, though just how Persephone had come to have this power over the Earth's fertility, Jo always questioned, only to be hushed by Caroline who would continue.

The people brought their sorrows and outrage to a surprised Zeus who then forced Hades to return her to the Earth, but before she left a wicked Hades tricked her into eating four pomegranate seeds...

("But what do pomegranate seeds have to do with anything?!"

"Hush Josephine...")

These pomegranate seeds forced Persephone to return to the underworld for four months every year. When she was on the Earth it flourished with vegetation and color but during those four months that she was away the Earth would die, becoming an infertile realm.

This, her Aunt had informed her, was how the seasons that they strove so hard to emulate through terraforming came about.

Josephine had questioned it at the time. Unable to accept the fact that Persephone was the embodiment of the Earth's fertility at the same time that she was queen of the underworld, and thereby, queen of death.

But it seemed to make sense now. After all, Josephine thought, unconsciously placing a hand to her stomach, you can't have life without death... without balance.

Mal stopped her suddenly with a hand at her elbow and she blinked in surprise.

She was astonished to realize she had walked all the way from Serenity, for all intents and purposes, without seeing. She had been so caught up in her musings that she hadn't noticed the enormous hospital before her.

The steps to Queen Persephone Memorial Hospital loomed directly in front of her and she had to blink into the sun to see where the hospital itself actually began. Just to the right of the steps Josephine noticed the large marble statue of Persephone herself, clad in familiar robes Jo had seen many times before.

"You gotta be kidding me," Jayne proclaimed loudly from behind her, "we gotta walk up all those!"

"Bi zui Jayne," Mal reprimanded the mercenary quietly. "You want to blow our cover?"

"If we go around to the other side the ground is more level and there's an elevator," Jo explained, "but we'd have to walk around."

"No, we go in here," Mal stated gruffly, staring forlornly at the hundred of stairs in front of him. He pulled Jo away from the others for a moment.

"You ready to do this?"

"Do I have a choice?" she asked sarcastically.

"Listen, just go in there and act like you're the most important person in the room." He paused and gestured to the statue. "Your Queen Persephone alright? This is your hospital and you make the rules, got it?"

She nodded and Mal smiled, leaning forward to give her a quick peck on the lips but Josephine stopped him with a hand on his chest and he looked at her curiously.

"You don't just kiss a Queen, Malcolm Reynolds."

Jo smiled at his surprised face and started up the stairs, the others following close behind.

They trudged up the stairs as quickly as possible, passing many curious onlookers along the way. They arrived, some what short of breath, at the top in about five minutes. The steps leveled off and they found themselves in the shadow of the great hospital, the sun now completely hidden behind it.

Mal steered Josephine towards a concrete bench to the left of the stairs and she collapsed onto it gratefully.

"I'd like to find the idiot architect that designed this place and give him or her a nice kick in the rear end," she spoke quietly up to Mal.

"When we're through here, I'll help you," he replied, his eyes fixed on the large glass doors leading to the hospital's lobby.

Jo followed his gaze, watching for a short moment as patients and visitors came and went before returning her eyes to Mal.

"It's a little late to be having second thoughts you know..."

"I know," he replied softly, "but in case you haven't figured it out, I'm real good at second guessing myself when it comes to certain things... it's a gift really."

"Uh huh," Josephine stood up, smoothing her hands down the front of her dress. "I had noticed that actually... does it change anything?"

"No."

"Well lets get this over with then... Simon?"

"Yes Ma'am?"

Josephine frowned at the Doctor and he smiled at her sheepishly.

"Just getting into character," he spoke quickly, "what do you need?"

"I just thought it might help if I knew where we were trying to go."

"Of course... the equipment should be in the Molecular Genetics Lab," he paused thoughtfully for a moment, "now I've never been inside this particular hospital but it's usually underground, basement level, and far from the patient's wings."

Josephine nodded, "So were looking for stairs or an elevator..." she paused and glanced at the doors again before turning back to Mal and the others.

"What now?"

"Now," Mal spoke quietly and pointed to the glass doors nonchalantly, "you're up..."

"Right..." Josephine took a deep breath and turned until she was facing the entrance, her back to the others. This was the part she'd been dreading, almost as much as she was dreading the actual test results. She had no faith in her ability to deceive and no plan of action to speak of except what Mal had told her... to pretend she was Persephone and this was her hospital.

She raised her gaze above the doors to where the hospitals name was emblazoned in large silver letters.

Queen Persephone Memorial Hospital.

An image of Persephone in her white robes appeared suddenly in Josephine's mind. She was tall and proud, her shoulders back and her head held high as she lorded over the lost souls of the underworld. Unconsciously, Josephine mimicked the posture she saw in her mind.

I can do this, she thought suddenly, taking a few shuffling steps towards the doors before stopping to address the others.

"Simon, stand at my side... the rest of you stay behind us," she spoke softly, her eyes never leaving the doors, trusting that they had heard her.

With a clang, she pushed two of the nearest doors inward and entered the hospital. Jo bypassed a medium sized line that she assumed had something to do with registration and walked hurriedly to her right, her eyes scanning the large room for something to point them in the right direction. A sign that read "looking to confirm the paternity of your unborn child? If so, basement access to the Molecular Genetics Lab is this way" seemed like far too much convenience to hope for.

"Excuse me?"

Josephine heard the small voice and glanced out of the corner of her eye in time to see one of the young women behind the desk moving towards them. Jo kept her eyes forward and walked deeper into the lobby, grateful for the comforting footsteps following closely behind her, and ignored the young woman.

"Excuse me!" the woman spoke louder and stepped in front of Josephine. "Can I help you?"

For a split second she froze, unsure of how to proceed, but the image of Persephone formed in her mind again and she forced her face to be as cold and stony as she could muster.

"I seriously doubt it," Josephine spoke quietly but with a menacing undercurrent and tried to step around her but the young receptionist was quicker than she looked.

"If you're here as a patient or visitor then you need to check in at the front desk," she spoke quickly, her hand extended in front of her as if to stop them.

"Listen... Arianne," Josephine spoke, taking a cursory glance at the woman's name tag for the first time, "I won't be checking in, so if you would just step aside..." Jo waved her hand to the side in a "shooing" motion and waited to see what the woman would do.

"Everyone registers, those are the rules," Arianne answered, not even pausing as she turned her head and glanced over her shoulder at an elderly security guard in the corner.

"You don't want to do that," Josephine spoke as Arianne turned back around and eyed her dubiously.

Jo heard Jayne mumble something from behind her and turned to see him step forward, his eyes on Arianne as his right hand slipped beneath his unbuttoned suit jacket.

"Stop," Jo spoke loudly and moved her arm in front of Jayne as she turned back to Arianne. The woman's

eyes had widened, clearly alarmed at the large man's sudden movement.

"You don't have to worry," Jo spoke quickly but much quieter, "my guards aren't here to intimidate you," she turned her head slightly to frown at Jayne, "they're here to protect me."

She stared past the large mercenary for a moment, her eyes focusing on the reception desk. The hospital's employees and those still in line stared back at her and she blinked in surprise.

This wasn't getting them anywhere, she realized suddenly, it was only making them the center of attention. With a small nod she turned back around and without giving herself time to reconsider, Josephine changed the plan. She decided to do something rash, something unthinkable really, and something she knew Mal wouldn't like, it was too risky. She met his eyes for a moment but quickly looked away and stepped forward, allowing a small smile to grace her lips.

She had decided to try being friendly.

Josephine placed a hand at the young receptionists elbow lightly. She began walking slowly, coaxing Arianne to turn her back on the others and join her.

"Do you know who I am Arianne?", Jo spoke quietly, her voice sticking sweetly in her throat almost enough to make her sick, and leaned towards her to be heard. "Or perhaps I should ask if you know who my husband wa... is?", she continued, silently admonishing herself for the near mistake.

Arianne shook her head and looked at Jo bewildered as she let her lead them farther away from the reception area.

"My husband is Bryce Rawley." Jo let her words hang in the air for a moment and began to worry when Arianne's face didn't show any immediate signs of recognition.

"Bryce Rawley..." Josephine repeated. "Surely you've heard of him?" Please, please, tell me you've heard of him, she thought to herself.

"Rawley? You mean the businessman... the really wealthy one?" Arianne spoke after a long moment and Josephine smiled in relief. It seemed Arianne knew just enough without really knowing anything at all.

"Not just a businessman dear. He was an entrepreneur, humanitarian, and most importantly, a philanthropist," Josephine lied sweetly... at least about the humanitarian part, but saying the truth, that he was a murdering, raping hundan, wouldn't help them at all. Believe it or not, Rawley had been a philanthropist in life, if only to keep up appearances, and Jo hoped to use his deceptively motivated good deeds to her benefit.

"In fact," she continued, "he made yearly donations to this very hospital. He was it's main benefactor."

Josephine frowned as she vividly remembered the hospital benefits in Rawley's honor that she had been forced to attend. As his wife in the public's eye she had been to many such events, but the ceremony for the hospital had always been the worst... forced to sit next to him, a fake smile plastered on her face, as the hospital board and guest after guest went on about Bryce's generous donations and what a wonderful man he was. And Jo would sit there, idiotic grin on the outside, while inside she was screaming... Screaming for them to wake up and see the truth.

Jo's eyes focused once again on the young woman in front of her. Arianne was watching with mild surprise and Josephine forced the frown from her lips, her countenance pleasant once more.

"I'll bet you've even seen his name on some of the plaques here," Josephine spoke quietly.

Arianne stared at her for a long moment before speaking. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Not as dumb as she looks, Josephine thought wryly as she glanced back at the others for the first time. She was surprised to see that they hadn't moved, not an inch. Avoiding Mal's persistent gaze, she instead focused on Simon for a second before turning back to Arianne.

"Arianne," she began, her voice losing some of it's previous sweetness, "I'm going to be frank with you because I'm keeping you from your work and your keeping me from completing the task I came here to complete."

The younger woman looked startled but nodded for her to continue.

"Do you see that man, the one in the lab coat?" Josephine pointed towards Simon and Arianne followed her outstretched hand. "He is my personal physician. The fact of the matter is my husband is away on business, he could be gone for sometime, and I am... unwell. The situation is such that if word were to get out of my being here, seeking medical attention well... I'd hate for my husband to be distracted when his energies are best focused elsewhere..."

"All registration information is confidential," Arianne interrupted.

"That's rubbish and you know it," Jo spoke quickly, the level of her voice raising to a volume that she knew would give them the room's attention again. "Do you think I don't read the papers! Everyday some gossip rag is reporting some wealthy residents admittance to this very hospital... all I am asking is that you let my doctor have use of some equipment... equipment most likely paid for by my husbands donations. That, if anything, should afford us some privacy!"

Josephine allowed herself to calm down as her outburst took effect and she looked over Arianne's shoulder in time to see the elderly security guard approach them.

"Is everything alright miss?" he spoke softly, as though he weren't used to richly dressed women causing scenes in the hospital.

Jo opened her mouth to answer him but Arianne beat her to it.

"Everything is fine, you aren't needed."

Josephine watched the old man walk away and allowed herself a small smile in victory.

"What do you need?" Arianne asked suddenly and Jo found herself blinking into her now sympathetic face.

"Pardon?"

"What exactly do you need? What kind of equipment... I mean to say, what's wrong with you?"

"No offense dear, but how do I know you aren't the one feeding the papers their information..." Jo shook her head. "No, all you need to know is that I need access to the equipment, just like I said."

Arianne nodded as though she had never expected to be told and bit her bottom lip in thought.

"I don't know how to get you a security card."

"What about that one?" Josephine pointed to the small plastic card with the hospitals emblem that hung from a cord around Arianne's neck.

Arianne reached a hand up to her neck and fingered the plastic card nervously. "I don't know... I could lose my place here for giving you this, how can I trust you?"

Josephine felt a pang of sympathy for the woman but smiled broadly as she answered.

"Well seeing as how my husband practically signs your paycheck..." Alright, that was pushing it she knew, but Jo was still surprised that the naive young woman hadn't asked for any proof that she was who she said she was, and it appeared to work. Jo did her best to hide her relieved smile as Arianne handed over her key card.

She grasped the woman's hand before she could pull back and held it in her own.

"Thank you Arianne, I can't tell you how much this means to me. I'll return it to you soon." Josephine released her hand and began walking towards two double doors with a sign on them that read "Staff Only." She turned her head and nodded at Mal and the others, who had already begun to follow her.

Josephine slid Arianne's key card into the reader and waited for the small light to change from read to green before pushing through the doors. She slipped the cord around her neck as they entered a medium sized white corridor and the others fanned out behind her as she began walking briskly. Numerous nurses and doctors gave them curious glances as they passed but soon their eyes shifted to the card hanging around Jo's neck and she was pleased when no one tried to stop them.

"Look..." Simon spoke as he stepped up next to Josephine, his right arm extended in front of him.

Jo followed his pointed hand to a door in the distance. It bore two signs. The first read "Labs" in large block letters and immediately below it, the other, slightly smaller sign read "Basement Access."

Josephine was surprised to find, upon reaching the door, that there was no card reader present. She half expected to find it locked and smiled when the knob turned freely in her hand. The door opened into a wide, brightly lit stairwell.

"Is it just me, or does the security here seem a little lax?" she mumbled as they started down.

"We're lucky it is," Mal answered from behind her. "Saint Lucy's was near impossible to get into..." he paused as Josephine turned back in confusion. "It's a hospital on Ariel... don't ask."

Their footsteps reverberated off the walls as they descended the staircase into another white corridor, much less crowded that the one above them.

Josephine stopped in the entrance to the hallway, waiting for the others to join her.

"I can't get over how easy that was," she spoke quietly once the others had reached her.

Zoe arched an eyebrow. "It was too easy. We best hurry before that woman realizes exactly what she did by giving you that." Zoe pointed to the card around Jo's neck.

She nodded and began down the corridor, Mal and Simon now on either side of her. She ignored the curious glances of the few people they passed, instead concentrating on finding the right door.

"That should be it," Simon spoke at the same sign that Jo saw the sign.

She slid Arianne's security card into yet another reader, but this time, instead of changing from red to green, the machine beeped at her angrily.

Jo tried it twice more with the same results before futilely twisting the door handle but it wouldn't budge. Frustrated, she turned back to the others.

"It won't work," she spoke quietly, even though no one else was in the corridor with them now.

"Huh? What do you mean it won't work?" Jayne all but shouted.

"Well apparently, Jayne, Arianne doesn't have access to the Genetics Lab," Josephine spoke, annoyance creeping into her voice.

"Access my jiroudi pigu..." Jayne mumbled as he pushed the others aside and stepped up to the door. "I ain't gonna come all this way for nothing." He reached under his suit jacket, pulling out a large revolver and aiming it at the door.

"Jayne!" Jo shouted as she pulled the raised arm down to his side. "Put that away! What are you thinking? You're going to get us caught, then it really will have been for nothing!"

The large mercenary shrugged his arm out of her grasp roughly but holstered the gun. "I was just tryin' to help," he grumbled. "Didn't see anybody else doing anything..."

"Actually, I have an idea," Simon spoke up, only to have Jayne glower at him.

"Oh this should be good," Jayne said as he stepped aside for Simon. "What are you gonna do Doc?"

"Something a lot less violent and a lot more subtle..."

Josephine watched and waited with the others, confused as to what Simon's plan was. With a small flourish, the Doctor raised his arm... and knocked.

Josephine stood with her mouth open for a few seconds before the sound of someone moving on the other side of the door roused her.

"Simon, what are you doing?" she whispered.

"When the door opens just barge in like you have every right to be in there."

Josephine frowned at him.

"Trust me, this will work... I think," he added quickly, just as the door began to open.

She barely had time to school her face back into the haughty manner she had adopted upstairs before the door was open completely. She only saw the briefest glimpse of glasses as she pushed the door flat against the wall with the palm of her hand and brushed past the young man that had opened it.

Josephine stopped in the middle of the room and took in her surroundings. Only two other men appeared to be in the room and they were both seated next to some sort of whirring equipment, mouths open as they stared at her in surprise.

"Thank you... get out."

She felt Mal and the others step up behind her and the techs shifted their gaze in confusion.

"Get out," she repeated, and still the two before just blinked.

The young man who had opened the door spoke softly, still standing in the same spot. "But..."

"We have private business to conduct," Jo interrupted, "I thanked you for opening the door, my security card appears to be malfunctioning, but if you don't leave now I will be forced to call your supervisor." She was taking a chance with that, hoping these three actually had a supervisor and one of them wasn't it.

"Alright," Door Man spoke after a short while and motioned for the others to get up. "How long do you need?"

Josephine feigned confusion for a moment and turned to Simon. "Doctor?"

"I'm not certain Ma'am," he turned to the men standing by the door, "a few hours at least... take a long break."

The two men who were sitting when they entered began to leave but the man who had opened the door was staring at Simon in a way that made Josephine nervous.

The bespectacled man clearly recognized him.

"If you would just leave..." she began, only to be interrupted.

"You're Doctor Tam!" the man cried out suddenly.

Josephine froze, unsure of what to do, and looked at Mal, Zoe and Jayne. Each one of them had their hands under their jackets as they watched the man approach Simon.

He stopped, with wide eyes, right in front of the Doctor and Josephine let out the breathe she hadn't realized she'd been holding when he reached out and shook Simon's hand vigorously.

"Doctor Tam, I can't believe it!" he continued still shaking Simon's hand heartily between his own two. "I saw you speak on Osiris a few years ago... completely changed my life!"

Simon blinked slowly at the young man. "You'll have to forgive me...I'm afraid I don't..."

"Of course you don't remember me, wouldn't expect you to," he interrupted and stopped shaking Simon's hand but didn't let go. "The hall was completely packed, but I did speak to you for a short while afterwards... about the benefits of performing a laparoscopic cholecystectomy over an open cholecystectomy... of course I was only speaking in theory because I'm not a surgeon," the man paused for a breathe at the end of his ramble, "just a lab technician after all."

"Yes of course..." Simon began, only to be interrupted again.

"I just couldn't believe how brilliant you were for being so young and I followed your career for awhile but then you just disappeared... what was that?"

"Um..." Simon's slightly panicked eyes looked towards Jo, who was standing nearest to him, for help.

"This is all very fascinating," she began, stepping next to the young man, "but I really must insist that you let us get to our work... and I'm afraid I'll need Doctor Tam's hand back for that."

The bespectacled man looked down in surprise and finally released the other man's hand. Simon's face appeared relieved and cradled his hand against his stomach as though it hurt.

"I'm so sorry, I guess I just got carried away... I'll leave you to... what is it exactly that your doing? I mean this isn't exactly where I'd expect to see a surgeon."

Simon opened and closed his mouth a few times before he could speak. "Well, um... well that's confidential you see..."

The young man raised his arms in front of his chest and began to back towards the door. "Of course, of course... I'll let you get to it." He paused at the open door. "But if you have the time later I'd love to pick your brain... how long do you think you'll be on Persephone?"

Simon's mouth fluttered open and closed again and Josephine stepped forward. "I'm sure Doctor Tam would love to arrange a chat later."

The man's entire face brightened as he gave his thanks and said his final goodbyes before finally closing the door behind him.

All eyes turned to Simon once they were alone in the room and the Doctor blushed furiously. "I really don't know what that was about," he spoke quietly.

"I do," Jayne spoke up, a grin plastered on his face. "Doc's got a groupie!"

Simon frowned and turned around but that didn't stop Jayne from coming up behind him and slapping a meaty hand onto his shoulder. "I bet he'd do just about anything to get back stage..."

"Bi zui Jayne," Mal spoke up as Simon pulled himself roughly out of the larger mans grasp. "Lets do what we came here for and get gone."

Simon nodded and stepped towards a large row of impressive looking equipment near the far wall and Josephine followed. She glanced over her shoulder to see Zoe and Jayne take up positions near the door and Mal come up behind her.

"What are you doing?" Mal asked and Jo turned back around to see Simon using an eye dropper to put small amounts of what she assumed was Mal's blood into several petri dishes.

"I've got to rupture the cells to separate the DNA from the other cellular components."

They watched in silence as he repeated the process with the amniotic fluid. After what seemed like a long time, he moved towards a particularly large machine that looked something like a giant cash machine with large square buttons.

"What is that thing?" Josephine asked quietly.

"A thermocycler," Simon answered, his voice laced with concentration. "Combined with the thermostable enzyme and a DNA primer I can amplify the STR's of the DNA molecule and compare them."

"STR's?"

"Short tandem repeats," Simon stated briefly.

"Oh," Josephine pretended to understand. "And then we'll know?"

"Not exactly... then I'll sort them using gel electrophoresis..."

"Meaning?"

Simon turned around suddenly and scooted back in surprise. Josephine had come up close behind him so that she could peer over his shoulder. Simon placed both hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back a few paces.

"Meaning, and then we'll know... but this isn't going to go any faster with you standing over my shoulder," he spoke kindly. "I suggest you find somewhere to sit and get comfortable... this could take awhile."

Josephine opened her mouth to speak but Simon shook his head, stopping her.

"You can't help, there's nothing you can do now but wait."

"Alright," Josephine acquiesced and allowed Mal to lead her to one of the chairs vacated by the young men. She sat down stiffly and let her eyes roam over the mostly white room. Zoe still stood by the door in silent vigilance but Jayne had sat down and begun to clean his gun. Her eyes fell on Simon again and she forced herself to look away, forced herself to look for something to take her mind off of the waiting. She scooted the chair around until her gaze fell on Mal. He had sat down on the floor, his back leaning against the wall with his eyes closed. She studied his face silently for a moment, the soft swell of his cheeks and lips to the harsh angle of his chin tilted back, until she came to a sudden realization. She got up swiftly and moved next to him, her back sliding down the wall until she was sitting.

His eyes opened and he turned his head to find her staring at him.

"Distract me," she spoke quietly and his eyes widened and glanced at the others in the room quickly before turning back.

"In front of everyone!?" he questioned, sounding startled.

Josephine rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant... tell me a story."

"I don't know any..."

"Sure you do," she continued. "You know so much about me, about my past... but I really don't know anything about yours. Tell me where you grew up, I want to know about your parents, about the war... how did you become a ship's Captain? I want to know everything about you... I love you."

Mal stared at her silently for a long moment before bringing a hand up to cup her cheek. "Where should I start?"

Josephine smiled slightly as she took his hand from her cheek and cradled it in her own. She broke eye contact and faced forward, leaning her head onto his shoulder comfortably.

"Where all good stories start Mal... at the beginning."

Josephine relaxed instantly when Mal started speaking in a low voice. He told her about growing up on a ranch on Shadow without a father, about how strong his mother was, about the ranch hands that all had a hand in raising him. He spoke of volunteering for the Independents army and becoming a sergeant, of all the battles he fought, his first glimpse of Zoe and how they'd taken to each other quickly. He spoke briefly but passionately about the last battle, the Battle of Serenity Valley and all the good men and women he'd lost that day and Josephine's grip on his hand tightened. He told her about finding Serenity and how Zoe had thought he was insane when he first showed her the battered ship but how he had instantly been in love with it. He told her about Wash and Kaylee, Inara and Jayne, Book and Simon and River. He told her about smuggling and close calls. About the sword fight he'd been in not far from this very hospital, about having cattle in his cargo bay, about a man called Niska, about getting a corpse shipped to him through the post, about Jubal Early... and about Miranda.

He spoke and spoke and spoke, until Josephine was surprised his voice hadn't given out. She listened with rapt attention, eager for anything and everything he wished to tell. She soaked it all in until she wasn't sure how much time had passed.

Eventually he stopped talking and the silence stretched between them. Josephine looked up only to find him looking down at her. Their eyes met and they held each others gaze for a long while before Josephine smiled slightly, squeezed his hand and spoke.

"And here I was thinking my life was messed up..."

Mal smiled and leaned towards her, placing a chaste kiss in the middle of her forehead.

"Ahem..."

They both looked up quickly as Simon cleared his throat. He was standing before them, only a few feet back, and they stood up swiftly. The Doctor's expression was trained into a professional mask that Josephine had seen before on many a doctors face. He held a piece of parchment in his left hand loosely.

"Well?" she questioned him timidly and Mal squeezed her hand from where he stood next to her.

Simon cleared his throat again and glanced at the Captain.

"It's ok Simon."

Simon nodded and glanced down at the paper in his hand. "I have the results and I've gone over them thoroughly..."

"Please Simon," Josephine interrupted meekly.

"And... Mal isn't the father."


	9. Chapter 9

A Note From Me:

Please understand, this story will NEVER be abandoned. I promise you that I intend to finish it. That being said, this chapter is shamefully overdue. Enjoy!

* * *

There was a clock ticking somewhere.

It was the first thing she heard.

Slowly her senses returned and she allowed herself to open her eyes, only to be partially blinded by the bright, white lights of the lab. She closed them again as a flood of emotion and sound overcame her. Someone was banging on the closed door and that, and their shouts of protest, were muffled slightly by the thick metal.

Josephine opened her eyes again, this time bringing a hand up to shield them from the light, and turned her head slowly towards the door.

Jayne stood poised in front of the door, gun in hand, ready to attack, while Mal and Zoe whispered anxiously to each other nearby.

Her vision was obscured suddenly by a pair of dark slacks that bent and crumpled as Simon crouched beside her, and the Doctor's worried face came into view.

"How are you feeling?" He inquired quietly.

She ignored his question and sat up quickly despite her body's protests. Her head swam as though the plates of her skull moved independently of each other and she cradled her head between both hands until it subsided... until the only thing left between them was the realization of Simon's startling announcement.

_Mal isn't the father. _

She had begun to believe he was, that he couldn't possibly not be the father of her child. It wasn't right. It was an unnecessarily cruel end to an already unnecessarily cruel life.

Her eyes sought the Doctors. "Simon," she rasped, her throat dry. "Are you sure?"

Simon knew what she was referring to immediately and reached out to take her hand.

"I'm sorry."

Josephine blinked slowly up at him. "Don't be sorry, just help me. Help me get rid of it."

Simon let her words hang in the air for a moment as his eyes flashed sadly and he set his mouth in a grim line.

"This isn't the time to discuss it." Simon released her hand abruptly and stood, turning towards the others. "She's awake." He spoke tersely and stepped aside so the others could see.

Mal ceased his argument with Zoe and hastened to Jo, where she still sat on the cold, hard floor. He knelt beside her, much like Simon moments before.

"Are you alright?"

Josephine shook her head, her eyes a little wild as they stared at the floor, not really giving him an answer. "Mal... I... It's not..." she stuttered and placed a hand on her stomach.

"I know, but right now I need you to get up and walk out of here the same way you came in, dong ma?"

Josephine registered the faint patronizing tone of his voice even through her daze and frowned. "What's going on?"

Mal glanced at the door behind him briefly. The banging, if anything, had grown more insistent. "Well the natives are getting a mite restless and I think it's time we left," he answered her calmly.

"Mal, I don't know," she hesitated and looked up at him finally, "I don't know if I can put on that act again."

Mal smoothed down the few hairs that had escaped from her pins with his large hand.

"I'd settle for you just being able to walk out of here."

She stared into his eyes for a few moments, searching for any sign that he was experiencing the same anguish and turmoil that she was, but his face was a cool mask. "I'm sorry Mal."

He shook his head quickly. "Ain't nothing to be sorry for. We'll figure it out later. Right now I just want to get out of here."

Josephine nodded. "Then help me up."

Mal helped her stand and kept his hand around her upper arm as she swayed slightly on her feet. They walked the short distance to the door, Mal's hand never leaving her arm, and she was grateful for the support.

The banging had subsided and Zoe, Jayne and Simon looked questioningly at Mal.

"Put your gun away Jayne." The larger man pouted slightly, but put his weapon back in its holster. "We go out the way we came in and we do our best to avoid a confrontation." Mal glanced at Jo, his eyes lingering worriedly. "They'll probably just let us leave," he spoke quietly to the others and Josephine knew she must look pitiful.

Mal ushered her ahead of the others, closer to the door, until it was the only thing in her line of vision.

"When I open it," Mal spoke softly from her left, "you'll have to say something."

"Say what?" she whispered absently.

"I don't know, anything. Ready?" He didn't wait for her answer and opened the door quickly.

The bespectacled man and his companions stood in the corridor, looking surprised that the door had opened so abruptly. The elderly security guard Josephine had seen upstairs stood with them. The two groups stared at each other for a short moment, before Josephine found her voice.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but we're finished now... why were you banging on the door?" she added, almost as an afterthought.

"You were in there for five hours." The elderly guard's voice was just as Jo remembered, soft and unsure, but he looked puzzled when her eyes widened at the mention of five hours. "Arianne was getting worried and couldn't leave her post."

"And we've been sitting out here for three hours," the man with glasses spoke anxiously. "Is everything alright?"

Jo swallowed, forcing moisture into her dry throat. "Everything's fine, thank you." She spoke numbly, her voice a strange monotone that startled her.

He blinked behind his glasses, his face clearly showing his disbelief. He opened his mouth as though to say more, but Mal's grip on Josephine's arm propelled her forward.

The security guard stepped in front of them, muttering something under his breath that sounded like "I'll show you out," and Jo wondered absently if he had been someone's butler or steward in his younger days.

She heard the others following, their soft footfalls echoing down the hallway. She caught a glimpse of her reflection as they passed a large bank of darkly tinted windows and she stumbled slightly in surprise. Her eyes were wide and wild, her skin too pale and slightly waxy, and her back rigid as she shuffled along.

Josephine wavered slightly, her legs suddenly weak as the truth of their situation finally seemed to sink in.

"Mal," she whispered softly and reached around with her right hand until she could grasp his jacket.

He stopped walking and Jo was grateful for the rest as she leaned into him. She heard the old security guard ask "Is she alright?" as she lifted her head slightly to look at Mal. Their eyes met and she saw her own horror and misery reflected back to her. Mal stared a moment longer before blinking.

"I know." His voice was faint but he surprised her be dropping his hand from her forearm and scooping her up swiftly. His hands slid over the silky red material of her dress as he positioned her in his arms.

"It'll be quicker," was Mal's only explanation and Jo clung to his neck, to weak to protest.

They climbed the stairs nimbly and spilled out into the first corridor they'd entered earlier that day. It was much more crowded now and Mal had to maneuver his way through the curious patients and hospital staff.

Josephine squeezed her eyes shut to avoid their gazes and buried her head in the crook between Mal's shoulder and neck. She heard them step into another room that had to be the lobby, but she didn't remove her head from it's comfortable position.

Mal maneuvered them through the crowd as they made their way silently towards the exit, trusting that the others would follow.

A prickling sensation on the back of Josephine's neck alerted her to the many curious gazes aimed at her even though she had her eyes closed and she opened them timidly. Jo found herself staring over Mal's right shoulder and she could see Zoe and the others not far behind. She turned her head slightly and met the eyes of a startled Arianne.

"Wait Mal," Jo spoke softly as she tapped him on the shoulder and then attempted, one handed, to remove Arianne's key card from around her neck. Mal stopped and turned his head, his eyes curious until he saw her struggling with the thin cord attached to the card.

"Zoe." Mal only had to say the first mates name quietly and she appeared before Josephine and lifted the cord from over her head.

Jo looked over Mal's shoulder again, as they started moving, and watched Zoe return the simple white card to its owner, silently wishing Arianne hadn't given it up to begin with. At least then she'd still be in the dark, she could still hope. She saw Zoe's mouth open and close as she said something tersely, but was too far away to hear anything. Arianne nodded to Zoe and glanced at Jo's retreating form, giving her a small, pathetic, looking wave before turning her back and going back to work.

She felt a slight breeze in her hair as they exited the hospital at last and turned her head around, astonished to see that it was still daylight outside. Mal descended the steps slowly, holding Jo tighter to him. When they reached the bottom she spoke.

"I think I'm okay to walk."

Mal shook his head but said nothing as he continued on.

"Really, there's no sense drawing undue attention to ourselves. I'm feeling much better," she tried again but he ignored her.

"Mal I'm not a child, I don't need to be carried!" she practically shouted and began to fidget restlessly in his arms.

He shook his head again and tightened his grip. "I'm not putting you down. You had a shock back there and passed out." Mal stopped so he could look at her and lowered his voice. "You should see yourself... you're practically white and your eyes are so wide I'm not sure I've seen you blink. I know your not really angry at me but if you need someone to take... the situation... out on, I'm all for it being my fault." He shifted her slightly in his arms. "You can yell and scream at me as much as you want when we're back on Serenity and in the comfort of my bunk," he added more gently and started walking again. "In the meantime, if you don't hold still I will throw you over my shoulder, I promise you that."

Josephine went still in Mal's arms and closed her eyes again. From what she knew of Malcolm Reynolds he wasn't an overly loquacious man, so for him to speak thus was practically a speech. She had no doubt he'd make good on his promise and remained motionless as they returned to Serenity.

Mal sat her on her feet as the cargo bays doors whirred and opened to reveal an uncharacteristically stoic Kaylee. Her eyes shot wide at the sight of Serenity's returned crew and she opened her mouth to ask the question she'd been waiting to have answered.

Josephine stepped around Kaylee and hastened in the direction of Mal's bunk. She felt the mechanic's startled eyes on her back and heard Mal speak softly, "leave her be."

She'd let him answer their questions, if he wanted to. She didn't have the nerve for it and had done her best to push the thoughts away and remain calm, but her body and heart ached in protest, urging her to react.

She descended the ladder into Mal's bunk as though in a daze and shrugged the red bolero jacket off her shoulders, leaving it to lay in the middle of the small room. She pulled the pins out of her hair quickly, letting it tumble down in a tangled mess. Reaching under the bed, she pulled out a bag containing a few items of clothing. She removed a simple cotton dress from the bag and set it on the bed before peeling off the beautiful, crimson-toned, shimmer dress she had worn all day to impress the people at the hospital. Jo slipped the soft, dark dress over her head before retrieving the jacket from the floor, her movements methodical and precise.

She felt Serenity raise up as they took flight once more and carried the jacket to the bed, intending to fold it and put it away, but it caught the light and gleamed up at her.

It was so beautiful and light as silk in her hands. It was perfect.

Too perfect.

There was no room in her life for such perfection.

Before she knew what she was doing her fingers curled around the fabric like claws, begging it to rip and tear apart.

Josephine let out a frustrated cry when her own strength wasn't enough to destroy the material and carried it to Mal's small desk.

Her left hand clutched the fabric while her right searched frantically through the desk for anything sharp. In the bottom drawer she found a small, rusted old knife, too dull to be used for much, but it would suit her purpose nicely.

She held the jacket out in front of her with one hand while the other slashed out. The fabric ripped and tore like paper and she felt a surge of satisfaction wash over her. Her arm continued its precise movement until the red pieces were like ribbons in her hand and she let them fall to the floor.

Josephine stared down at them for a moment, her chest rising and falling rapidly, blood pounding in her ears. She was so angry and she didn't really know why but something in the back of her mind was telling her she had every right to be.

She tore her eyes away from the bits of fabric quickly and grabbed the dress from its place on the bed. She lashed out at it too, nicking her hand with the knife accidentally.

Jo ignored the sharp and sudden pain and the wet splotches on her face as the tears began to fall slowly, not stopping until the dress was in shreds and she let it fall from her hand.

She heard River's voice quietly from the back of her mind in an odd moment of clarity, _'can't give it away if it doesn't stay in one piece...'_

"Kaylee... I was going to give this to Kaylee," Jo whispered, remembering their conversation earlier that day.

She sank to her knees besides the tattered remains of the once beautiful dress and began to cry in earnest. She had no idea of the time and wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there when she felt someone's hand on her own, silently taking the knife from her.

She turned slightly and buried herself into Mal's open arms, the rusted knife nowhere to be seen. Jo welcomed the heavy weight of his arms around her back and pressed her face into his chest, her tears turning quickly to sobs.

"Shhhhh ai ren, qie jiang yaoshi hao di. Wo jiang zhao liao ni," Mal whispered softly, raising one large hand to stroke the back of her head.

He held her until she grew quiet, only a few hiccupping sobs remaining, and pulled back slightly to examine her face. Her eyes were closed, wet lashes resting on her red, tear streaked face, and her mouth was open slightly, as though sleep had taken her by surprise.

Mal shifted slightly, intending to carry her to the bed, but stopped when he felt something wet dripping onto his forearm. He looked down to see a few drops of blood on his skin before raising his gaze to find the cut on Josephine's hand.

Cursing softly, he leaned her back until she was laying on the floor of his bunk and reached out for one of the strips of red fabric. He wiped the blood from the cut in an attempt to see if it was deep when she stirred and opened her eyes.

She stared at his fingers for a moment as he deftly wrapped another strip around her hand before catching his gaze.

"Mal, what should I do?" She spoke softly, her voice barely a whisper.

"I can't make that decision for you," he responded, neatly tying the ends together. "What do you want to do?"

Josephine ignored his question and stared past him at the ceiling.

Mal looked down at her for a short moment before speaking again.

"Come on, lets get you into bed, you should rest."

She let him help her up and into his small bed, to weary to protest that it was too early for sleep but to proud to admit she was exhausted. She laid down on the bed fighting to keep her eyes open and stared up at Mal as he dropped a blanket over her.

"I hate it you know... how can I be a mother to something I hate?"

Mal's hands stilled in the process of smoothing out the blanket and met her eyes as he sat down next to her.

"Why do you hate it?" he asked softly, although he was fairly certain he already knew the answer.

"Because it's a part of him... I hate it for not being yours." She sighed and closed her eyes but she could still feel the intensity of Mal's gaze.

"You're forgetting one thing."

Josephine felt Mal's hand on her cheek but her eyes remained closed as she began to drift off.

"What's that?" she murmured.

"It's a part of you too."

Jo sighed again and turned her face towards Mal's palm. "It's a part of me," she whispered before succumbing to her exhaustion.

Mal hesitated a moment, to be sure he wouldn't wake her, and leaned down to place a chaste kiss on her temple. He stood, rubbing a hand over his face, and stared down at the crimson mess all over his floor. Sighing deeply, he stooped over and gathered all the pieces in his hands, stuffing the remains of the dress in the waste basket near his desk.

"Captain, got a wave coming in from Inara. Says it's urgent." Zoe's clipped voice spoke loudly over the intercom and Mal jumped in surprise. He hurried to the source of the intrusion and lowered its volume, glancing over his shoulder to see if it woke Josephine but she hadn't stirred. Satisfied, he pressed the button and spoke.

"What does she want Zoe?"

"I don't know Sir, says she wants to talk to you and Josephine," Zoe spoke again, her voice now almost muted.

Mal looked over his shoulder at Jo again, silently debating on whether he should wake her to speak to the Companion. He shook his head, deciding against it.

_She ain't herself, needs to rest _he thought quickly and pressed the button again.

"I'll take it on the bridge Zoe."

Mal crept up the ladder and into the crew corridor as quickly and as quietly as possible. He passed Simon and Kaylee in the kitchen, each glancing at him curiously and, Mal thought, with an over abundance of pity, which he didn't much care for. But at least they had the grace and decency to look away when he ignored them.

He found Zoe waiting for him near the controls and River seated, cross-legged, in the pilots chair.

"You need privacy for this Sir?"

"Don't know," Mal answered his first mate as he shooed River out of the chair and sat down, switching on the monitor. Inara's beautiful, yet somewhat somber, face stared back at him.

"Do we need privacy Inara?"

The Companion blinked once in surprise. "No, I don't think so. In fact, everyone should probably know eventually... Where's Josephine?"

Mal glanced down quickly, stifling a sigh, before returning her gaze. "Resting," he responded tersely.

Inara stared at him for a long moment, her intuitive eyes delving into his own, and Mal knew at once that she had figured out he wasn't the father.

"Oh Mal, I'm so sorry."

Mal leaned closer to the screen and lowered his voice. "Don't Inara, please... I can't..." _talk to you about this_, he finished silently.

The Companion nodded quickly. "I'll just get to it then, shall I?" She waited for him to return her nod before continuing. "A few days ago we received a letter at the training house. It was addressed to Josephine..." she paused for a moment. "I'd really prefer to tell her this directly. I already feel guilty for allowing my curiosity to get the better of me and reading it in the first place."

Mal scrubbed at his eyes wearily. "She's had a hard day Inara, we all have... she's resting. I'll catch her up later."

"Very well, I'll read it to you then." Inara pulled a few sheets of parchment out of an envelope in her lap. "And I apologize for not contacting you right away, but everyone was a little surprised when it arrived. No one could account for how it had come to be here and not many send letters anymore... the whole process is a bit antiquated."

Mal studied her curiously. "Why are you stalling Inara?"

"I'm not, I'm just..." she trailed off, surprisingly flustered and uncomfortable. "I'll just read it." She unfolded the papers, her eyes resting at the top as she began to read.

"'My Dear Josephine, I assume by now you know I am not exactly the person I claimed to be. I am in fact younger brother to your late husband Bryce.'" Mal's hands clenched into fists and he leaned forward slightly, knowing at once who the letter was from. "'We share the same father, but that is all we ever shared. When my mother, Kristof Rawley's mistress, became pregnant she was cast off and I was raised a bastard. Please keep in mind I am not telling you any of this to elicit your sympathy. I only wish you to understand why I have acted and will continue to act the way I have. My mother, god rest her, listed Kristof as my father and gave me his name on my birth documents. When she died, and I had learned that Kristof was gone as well, I made myself known to Bryce. He, believe it or not, welcomed me into his life. But when he saw how disgusted I was with his... lifestyle choices, I was cast out again. Now he is dead, your lover Malcolm Reynolds saw to that I believe...'" Inara glanced up at Mal quickly, before returning to the papers... "'and everything should be mine. However, if you know anything of Persephone's laws you are aware that it is you, the surviving spouse, to whom all Bryce's assets and estates will be entailed upon. This is unacceptable.'" Inara shuffled the first page to the back and continued.

"'I also assume that since I have not heard back from Caleb, the young man I sent to the Companion Training House, that he is dead and you are very much alive. This as well could prove to be most unacceptable.'" Mal could hear the menace in his words even through Inara's polished voice. "'Let me be plain with you. I won't allow anything to stand between myself and what should rightfully be mine... my birthright, if you will. However, I'm willing to let bygones be bygones if you assure me that you have no intentions of laying claim to any of Bryce's assets. I'm sure I can come up with something to prove your death, but I have no intention of ending up in a jail cell if you show up to collect. That being said, I promise you I will make no more attempts on your life if you sign the enclosed documents and forward them to the address I've provided. Yours respectfully, Nash Rawley.'"

Inara returned the pages to their envelope and looked up to find Mal staring at her, his jaw dropped in surprise.

_He sounded like a business man_, Mal thought quickly. _The tamade hundan lied to her, tried to have her killed, and yet he writes to Josephine as though it were nothing more than a business arrangement_. Mal shook his head in frustration, his thoughts running rampant as the others sat in silence, waiting for his response.

"I want it."

Mal turned in surprise, River and Zoe following suit at the sudden intrusion, to find Josephine standing in the entranceway, one hand on the wall, the other resting lightly on her stomach.

Her eyes were slightly wild and her expression was uncharacteristically fierce.

"I deserve it," she spoke again, raising her voice. "I want it all."


End file.
